Iran rejects Benjamin Netanyahu’s warning to leave Syria
Russia and Iran have cooperated to keep Bashar Assad in power in the face of a civil war, and Iran is hoping to expand its military capabilities across Syria to its terrorist proxies in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Iran won’t withdraw from Syria unless President Bashar Assad asks it to leave, a senior Iranian diplomat told reporters in Russia, one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened military action to force Iran’s departure.
"They are there at the Syrian government’s request to resolve issues that the Syrian people have been facing," Iranian deputy foreign minister Jaberi Ansari said Tuesday.
Russia and Iran have cooperated to keep Assad in power in the face of a civil war, and Iran is hoping to expand its military capabilities across Syria to its terrorist proxies in Lebanon. Ansari is in Sochi, Russia for a diplomatic summit on a political settlement to the crisis. Syrian opposition leaders and the United States declined to attend, preferring a United Nations-led process, but NATO ally Turkey joined the event.