Moscow: Iran’s growing role in Syria poses a threat to Israel, the Middle East and the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
“Mr. President, with joint efforts we are defeating Daesh, and this is a very important thing. But the bad thing is, that where the defeated Daesh vanishes, Iran is stepping in,” Netanyahu told Putin during talks at Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi.
“We cannot forget for a single minute that Iran threatens every day to annihilate Israel,” Netanyahu said.
“It (Iran) arms terrorist organisations, it sponsors and initiates terror.” Netanyahu also said that “Iran is already well on its way to controlling Iraq, Yemen and to a large extent in already in practice in control of Lebanon”.
As world powers seek an endgame to Syria’s six-year war, Israel is seeking a seat at the table.
Israel could escalate the pinpoint strikes against Iran and Hezbollah it has already carried out during the war if it isn’t satisfied that Putin and US President Donald Trump are taking its security concerns into account. Moshe Ya’alon, who served as Israel’s defense minister during part of the war, said Israel may be forced to act militarily if Iran isn’t expelled.
“We had the expectation that a deal between Trump and Putin would deal with the Iranian threat on our border,” Ya’alon said in an interview in Tel Aviv.
“It’s clear that if there is no solution, in the end we might have to take action ourselves.”
Netanyahu was in Russia with Mossad spy chief Yossi Cohen and internal security head Meir Ben-Shabbat after an Israeli delegation came back from Washington this month with no announcement of progress on Israel’s demands.
Russia, whose military intervention turned the tide in favor of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, may not support the demand for a complete Iranian withdrawal: Iran is one of the co-sponsors of Moscow’s peace efforts in Syria, and Russia is unlikely to antagonise it.
