“Iran is scheming to entrench itself militarily in Syria. They want to create a permanent air, land and sea military presence, with the declared intent of using Syria as a base from which to destroy Israel.”
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that the most recent ceasefire announcement did not involve any commitment for Russia to force Iran out of Syria, saying that Iran can maintain a legitimate presence in Syria.
This isn’t sitting well with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who urged the world to unite and force Iran out of Syria at all costs. Now, he’s saying Israel is prepared to act alone to ensure Iran has no permanent presence there.
The narrative of Iran even wanting a “permanent” presence in Syria seems to be more or less wholly an Israeli creation, based on reports of building at a Syrian military facility somehow being extrapolated to it being an “Iranian base.”
Iran’s presence in Syria is vastly overstated at any rate and rests on the assumption that all of the Shia militias fighting alongside Assad in Syria, militias which come from all over the world, are “Iranian” forces, as opposed to just combatants in the sectarian conflict.
Israel’s standard for “no Iranians” in Syria has effectively been broadened to include the Syrian government at any rate, and the pledge to act alone suggests Israel is moving closer to joining the Syrian War outright.
Watch Benjamin Netanyahu speaks via satellite to participants at the JFNA
Top photo | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
With neither its farmers nor fishermen safe from Saudi coalition attacks, famine has become a massive crisis in Yemen, further exacerbated by the coalition’s blockade of the country which largely prevents food from being imported into the troubled nation.
Exposing the groups behind CNN’s firing of Marc Lamont Hill, and the Israel lobby groups trying to get him fired from Temple University.
Why there’s nothing to celebrate in Bernie Sanders “Yemen Bill” aimed at ending the US involvement in Yemen. Here’s the loophole that allows for continued US involvement in Yemen.
Mnar Muhawesh discusses social media giants’ efforts to wipe independent journalism off the map and what can be done to combat this deliberate form of censorship.
