Official: Israel to destroy Iran facilities near Syria border

A senior Israeli official yesterday confirmed that Israel has promised to destroy all Iranian facilities and thwart any Iranian activity within 40 kilometres of the Syrian Golan Heights, Kuwait’s Al-Jarida newspaper reported.

The unnamed official was commenting on indirect talks between the US, Russia and Iran on the establishment of a buffer zone between Israel, Lebanon and Syria.

According to the official, Syrian regime President Bashar Al-Assad conveyed a message to Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, through Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which he said that Damascus is ready to negotiate a demilitarised zone of up to 40 kilometres from the border in the Golan Heights and grant Kurds and Druze autonomy as part of a comprehensive agreement between the two countries only if Israel does not work to remove his regime from power.

After the visits, the official said, Putin contacted international players including Netanyahu who said that he would discuss Al-Assad’s proposal with Israeli security agencies while stressing the need to withdraw Hezbollah and Iranian forces from Syria.

He pointed out that Israel believes that the demographic changes that have taken place in Syria could be repeated in Lebanon in a way that could help reach a strategic peace in the region which could include Iran.

Golan Heights ‘essential to our existence,’ says Israeli President