Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he had stressed in his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel would object to any settlement that left Iran or any of its satellites permanently in Syria, for a deal to end the country's civil war, Haaretz reports.
"I made this clear and I think the message was internalized," Netanyahu told reporters in a telephone briefing before his plane took off from Moscow back to Israel.
He added that he wanted to clarify for Putin Israel's position regarding any political settlement in Syria.
"It was important for me that even if a settlement took time, that Israel's position will remain clear," Netanyahu said. "I stressed our strong opposition to Iran or its satellites establishing themselves in Syria. We see that Iran is trying to establish a naval base in Syria. This has serious implications for Israeli security. I told Putin this would threaten stability and hurt the possibility of achieving a political settlement in Syria," Netanyahu said.
