Israeli President Simon Peres publicly charged Syria on Tuesday with transferring Scud missiles to the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Israeli and Syrian officials have publicly charged each other with preparing for war. The U.S. official said Syria’s arms transfer could have been a form of deterrence against Israel.

Opponents of the White House’s policy that engagement with Damascus can convince Syria to reduce its strategic alliance with Iran, exclaimed the news Tuesday was evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad has no intention of breaking Syria’s strategic ties to Tehran and Hezbollah.