Iranian Forces Building Along Syrian Border, Israel Worried

by Jerusalem Post | Middle East

Even as Britain, US and Russia discuss potential ways to co-operate with Iran and present a united front on Syria in order to defeat the threat of Islamic State, Iranian forces are reportedly being amassed on the border with Syria, near the Golan Heights.

* Israeli soldiers secure the Israel-Lebanon border, Wednesday,
Jan. 28, 2015. (Credit: CTVNews)

According to a report by the Jerusalem Post, Tuesday, Israel feels concerned by the increase of Iranian forces near its border.

Tehran dispatched its force “in light of Assad’s” ongoing distress, the Jerusalem Post reported, saying the deployment was part of a wider Russian-Iranian coordinated effort to prevent what remains of the Assad regime from collapsing.

Russia and Iran are close alleys of President Bashar Assad and President Putin announced yesterday that it would be wrong to try to defeat Islamic state at the same time as achieving a change of government in Syria.

But Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama want President Assad to remain only as a transition leader while a united front is used to defeat Islamic State's threat.

National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister, Yuval Steinitz of the Likud Party reportedly told Army Radio in an interview today that Israel is concerned witht he build-up of Iranian forces in Syria, near the border with Israel, saying "Nobody wants to see Russian forces in the area of the Golan Heights, but we definitely don't want to see Iranian forces near Israel."

"In all of our discussions, first and foremost with the United States, but also with Russia and the rest of the world powers, we must make sure that the Iranian forces will stay in Iran," the Israeli Minister was quoted as saying.

Iranian Islamic Republican Guards Corp force, comprising of hundreds of soldiers, recently entered Syria to assist the embattled Assad regime, JP reported, quoting an Israeli security official.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on is way to New York, where Britian, US and Russia are trying to find united way to work with Iran in Syria.