Baladi - Newspapers
Media outlets reported that Iranian top foreign policy adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei said Friday after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Iranian forces will remain in Syria despite protests from Israel and the Trump administration.
Ali Akbar Velayati insisted that Iran will only leave if the regime in Damascus asks it to go.
Speculation has been building that Mr. Putin and President Trump may be preparing a deal Monday in their Helsinki summit on the future of Syria as the Bashar Assad government appears close to winning the country’s brutal seven-year civil war, a deal that would include the withdrawal of Iranian units that have been backing Assad.
Israel has pressed hard for the removal of Iranian and Hezbollah forces, especially as the Assad forces has reclaimed territory close to the Israeli border along the occupied Golan Heights.
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow, Velayati revealed that the Iranians and Russians are going to remain in Syria and Iraq to protect both countries from terrorist groups, as well as from US aggression. Tehran, he pointed out, coordinates its presence in Syria with Moscow and Damascus.
Velayati’s visit to Moscow came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the situation in Syria and relations with Iran. According to Ynet News, Netanyahu told Putin that, “Israel will thwart any attempt to violate its sovereignty both in the air and on land.”
Sources: MEMO + The Washington Times