Netanyahu to Putin: Iran's presence in Syria threatens Israel

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the seaside resort city of Sochi, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and gave him classified information about Iranian military expansion in the region. «Iran is making an accelerated effort to gain a military foothold in Syria. This poses a danger for Israel, for the Middle East and in my opinion, for the world," said the prime minister, with Putin at his side. Netanyahu told Putin that although Israel welcomes the current military operations against the Islamic State; Iran is filling the vacuum created in Syria by the defeat of the terrorist group. "All of us are winning from the tremendous international effort against the Islamic State, which is something worthy of praise, but what is not worthy of praise is that Iran enters the places that the Islamic State abandons," Netanyahu noted. "Not for a second do we forget that Iran continues to threaten Israel's destruction daily," the prime minister stressed. «Arm terrorist organizations and initiate terrorism. "It is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles with the intention of providing them with nuclear warheads." "For all of these reasons, Israel opposes Iran's continued entrenchment in Syria. "We assure that we will defend ourselves using all means against this threat." "Iran is already in advanced stages of conquering Iraq and Yemen, and, in fact, already controls Lebanon," Netanyahu emphasized about Iranian military expansion in the region. Netanyahu was accompanied by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen on his trip to Russia, who reportedly provided Putin with “accurate and worrying” intelligence on the Iranian military presence in Syria. Last week, an Israeli delegation traveled to Washington to share those same intelligence reports with the North American Administration. However, there is "serious concern" in Israel that Cohen and other senior intelligence officials failed to obtain a US commitment during their trip.