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Russia says Iranian forces won’t leave Syria
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that calls for Iran to abandon its interests in Syria are “absolutely unrealistic”.
Lavrov met Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Moscow yesterday and his comments suggest a reversal in Russian policy. In May, Lavrov called on all non-Syrian forces to leave Syria and that only Syrian troops should be stationed in the Daraa area, close to the Israeli and Jordanian borders.
Since then, both Israel and the US have been in talks with Russia about Iranian forces in Syria. Israel has consistently said it will not tolerate an Iranian military presence in Syria and has launched military strikes against Iranian targets in recent months.
Lavrov on Wednesday said that Iran is one of the key powers in the region, and therefore “regional powers should discuss mutual complaints and negotiate a compromise”. He added that the situation in southern Syria, where government forces have launched a new offensive to capture rebel-held areas in Daraa and Quneitra provinces, will be discussed at the upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 16 July.
IDF Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, and senior IDF officials visited the “Bashan” Division on the Golan Heights yesterday. They assessed the current situation regarding the fighting in southern Syria and the readiness of the Northern Command.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly scheduled to travel to Moscow next week to meet President Putin. According to Russian news agency RIA, both leaders will discuss the Syrian offensive in Quneitra and the removal of Iranian and Hezbollah forces from the area. The report claims that Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman have received assurances from their Russian counterparts that no Iranians would be deployed within 100 kilometres of the Israeli border.
The London-based al-Hayat cited an unnamed French source in a report yesterday which claims that roughly 3,000 to 4,000 Hezbollah fighters have been recalled to Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said they were close to a “big victory” over “terrorist forces supported by the US and Israel”.