Tel Aviv : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to respond to Israel’s large-scale air attack on Syria.
“Yesterday I conveyed a clear message to the Assad regime: Our activity is directed against Iranian targets in Syria,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “But if the Syrian army takes action against us, we will act against it,” Xinhua reported. “That is exactly what happened yesterday, Syrian army launched ground-to-air missiles against us, and therefore we hit them,” he said. He warned that Israel will act forcibly to any response to its attacks.
“If anyone hurts us, we will hurt them sevenfold. And if anyone prepares to harm us, we will take preemptive action to harm them first,” he said. Throw Iranians out, Assad told:
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to expel Iranian forces from his country, after Israeli air strikes hit alleged Iranian targets in Syria.
Russia and Germany reaffirm commitment
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a telephone conversation on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to preserving the Iran nuclear deal after the US pulled out of it, the Kremlin said. “The situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action following the unilateral withdrawal of the US was discussed. The importance of preserving the deal from a point of view of international and regional stability was highlighted,” the Kremlin said in a statement following the call.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria as well as Merkel’s planned working visit to Russia next week, the Kremlin said.
US President Donald Trump this week defied the wishes of world powers when he announced that Washington would withdraw from the historic nuclear accord and impose new sanctions on Tehran.
Merkel has previously said Germany and its European partners would “do everything” to ensure Iran remains in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, while Putin has voiced “deep concern” at the US decision.
The Russian president also spoke with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier today, with the pair saying Trump was “wrong” to pull out of the accord, according to a Turkish presidential source.
After long negotiations, Iran agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions.
The deal had been negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – plus Germany.