SHOWDOWN

Netanyahu to Meet with Putin over Iran

Israeli PM concerned about Iran’s actions in Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Moscow this coming week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid Netanyahu’s concerns over Iran’s actions and intentions in Syria. The Iranian regime has provided support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country’s years-long civil war. Russia is intervening in the Syria conflict to prop up the Assad government, its longtime ally. “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 said Sunday in response to a top Iranian military leader floating the possibility of establishing naval bases in either Syria or Yemen. “I will express to President Putin Israel’s vigorous opposition to this possibility,” Netanyahu added.