Russian nuclear-capable Iskander-M missile systems have been deployed in Syria in the last few days. It is the most advanced tactical missile system in the Russian arsenal and is the first time a nuclear-capable surface missile system has been deployed next to Israel since 2007. DEBKAfile reports: The Russian Iskander is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and has never been made available to any foreign army for operational use. No nuclear-capable surface missiles were deployed in any Arab country bordering on Israel since 2007 when Chinese DF-21 missiles were installed in Saudi Arabia. The Russian missiles (NATO codenamed SS-26) have a range of 500 kilometers (see map). The Iskander’s transfer to the Kaliningrad enclave in the Baltic Sea in 2015, putting it in range of Central and Western Europe, was a mark of heightened tensions with the West over Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. Its deployment in Syria, amid a bloody five-year civil war, is a game changer in terms of the balance of strength in the Middle East. Its range – from the Russian Hmeimim base in western Syria – covers all of Israel up to the southern town of Beersheba, points in Turkey up to the outskirts of Ankara [...]