Netanyahu to Putin: Israel may act to curb Iran's clout in Syria
Source: Reuters
#WORLD NEWS AUGUST 23, 2017 / 2:57 AM / 26 MINUTES AGO
Netanyahu to Putin: Israel may act to curb Iran's clout in Syria
Denis Pinchuk
4 MIN READ
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that Israel was prepared to act unilaterally to prevent an expanded Iranian military presence in Syria as Moscow works to end the civil war there.
Russia intervened on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, joining a de facto alliance with Iranian forces, Lebanese Hezbollah and other Shi'ite Muslim militias helping Damascus beat back Islamic State and other Sunni Muslim insurgent groups.
Israel worries that an eventual Assad victory could leave Iran with a permanent garrison in Syria, extending a threat already posed from neighboring Lebanon by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Meeting Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Netanyahu said Israel's arch-foe Iran was fighting to cement an arc of influence from the Gulf to the Mediterranean.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-israel-idUSKCN1B30JS?il=0