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Putin said Iran could leave Syria in return for US sanctions relief
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered Israel and the US a deal involving Iran’s withdrawal from Syria in exchange for relief from US sanctions.
Israel’s Channel 10 News reported last night that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a closed session of the Knesset’s Foreign and Security Committee about the idea. He told the committee that Putin’s proposal was only a preliminary idea and that Israel has yet to determine a position on the matter.
Netanyahu said at the meeting that the Russians and Americans are in discussions about containing Iranian influence in Syria, and held their last meeting on the issue on 8 November in Vienna. According to Channel 10 News, at the beginning of the month Netanyahu met with the US envoy to Syria, Jim Jeffrey, and discussed the matter with him.
According to a senior US State Department official, the Trump administration continues “negotiations with the UN and other parties to promote a political solution in Syria. We do not detail the content of these diplomatic talks”.
Iranian retrenchment in Syria is a major concern for Israel, but the Russian position until now has been that the presence of Iranian forces is legitimate because they were invited by the Assad regime. According to Russia’s Ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, Russia has already convinced Iran to keep its troops in Syria 100 km from the Israeli border, with the exception of Iranian bases in Damascus.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot yesterday visited the Golan Heights and the Syrian border area together with the head of the IDF Northern Command Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick and other senior officers. He praised the Northern Command for its effort in blocking Iranian forces from establishing a permanent military presence in southern Syria and from transferring advanced weaponry, including precision guided missiles, to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The IDF will continue to thwart these efforts (by Iran and Hezbollah), while preserving the security situation in the north in the long term, from a dedication to defending citizens of the State of Israel,” he said.