Tabnak - In his latest attempt to increase the international pressures on Iran and in the framework of his persistent anti-Iranian position, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will head to Moscow next week to have talks with the high-ranking Russian officials. This is while Iran and Russia are still continuing their close partnership in Syria and it has become a new point of concern for Tel-Aviv.
According to "Reuters”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday to voice opposition to what the Israeli leader charged were Iran's attempts to establish a permanent military foothold in Syria.
"In the framework of a (future peace agreement) or without one, Iran is attempting to base itself permanently in Syria - either through a military presence on the ground or a naval presence - and also through a gradual attempt to open a front against us on the Golan Heights," Netanyahu told his cabinet in public remarks on Sunday. "I will express to President Putin Israel's vigorous opposition to this possibility," he said.
Later today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to "Sputnik” that Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 9, and with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 10.
Last year, Netanyahu visited Russia twice, discussing Syria, anti-terrorism as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Regular phone contacts between Netanyahu and the Russian president have also taken place.
It seems that Netanyahu’s intensified attempts to press Moscow on Iran’s activities in Syria, takes place in line with the viewpoints of former and present Israeli intelligence officials who believe that by working more closely with Russia, it is possible to "contain” Iran’s move in the embattled country and elsewhere in the Middle East.
In this vein, Israel’s former spymaster Efraim Halevy urged Israel to reach out to Russia in its efforts to thwart Iran’s nuclear program and other plans, since Moscow, unlike Washington, has direct influence over Tehran.
"If you’re an Israeli prime minister and you want to rein in Iran, why would you go to Washington?” Israeli newspaper "Times of Israel” quoted Halevy as saying. "If you go to Washington and say your biggest problems are: Iran, Iran and Iran,” he said, referring to Netanyahu’s White House talks with US President Donald Trump earlier this month, "what do you say in Moscow?”
It should be noted that Israeli officials have long claimed that the Iranian revolutionary guards have been trying to build an anti-Israel front on the Syrian Golan, alongside Hezbollah forces and local Druze opposed to Israel.
However, in analyzing these claims, one should remind that it is not the first time that Tel-Aviv tries to pressure Iran through Moscow and the Syrian issue is just a new excuse to do so. In fact, Israeli officials had long claimed that Russia’s cooperation with Iran in the nuclear sphere could have a negative effect on international peace and security, because – according to their claims – Iran was pursuing a plan to build nuclear weapons.
Nonetheless, after Iran-P5+1 negotiations on the nuclear issue ended in an agreement and the process of normalizing the Iranian nuclear file started, the Israelis lost their favorable excuse and had no choice but to "invent” a new one.
Nowadays, although the centerpiece of Iran’s activities in Syria has been put on fighting against terrorism and that was why a partnership took shape between Tehran and Moscow in the country, the Israelis claim that for Iran, it’s all about having a foothold next to Israel (the occupied territories). However, given the firmness of Iran-Russia partnership, at least in Syria, it is very unlikely that Netanyahu’s visit could lead to a change in Moscow’s stance toward Iran.
