BICOM

Russia rejected an Israeli request to keep Iran and Iranian-backed militia at least 60km from its border with Syria during the July ceasefire negotiations in the southern Syria.

Amos Harel in Haaretz has reported that Israel demanded a buffer zone in southern Syria extending 37 to 50 miles from the border on the Golan Heights. However the Russians promised only to keep Iran and its allies from not coming any closer than three miles from the current Syria-Israel armistice lines.

The report said no Iranian presence has been detected along the border region over the past few months. Israeli intelligence expects the Iranians to infiltrate the border area gradually, with the aim of opening up a second front against Israel if another war against Hezbollah breaks out.

Senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have publicly expressed fears about the details of the ceasefire agreement reached between the US, Jordan and Russia at the G20 summit in Germany in July.

On 23 August, Netanyahu met Russian President Vladimir Putin to warn about Iranian expansion in Syria, arguing that the “Lebanisation” of Syria by Iran, using Shi’ite militia, was a red line as far as Israel was concerned.

Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen also reportedly briefed Putin with “sensitive, credible and very disturbing detailed intelligence” on Iran’s military presence in Syria.

According to Haaretz, Iran is spending approximately US$800m funding Hezbollah, which is part of Lebanon’s Government, as well as US$70m funding Hamas and Islamic Jihad in

Netanyahu issued a warning about Iran’s support for terrorist groups around the world during his recent visit to Argentina. The Prime Minister said that Iran “have a terror machine that encompasses the entire world, operating terror cells in many continents”.