The Iranian government on Wednesday rebuffed ‘advice’ offered by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who suggested Tuesday that the regime ought to withdraw its forces from Syria before Israel intensifies its air campaign.
Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, told ISNA Wednesday that Iranian forces would remain in Syria.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will keep its military advisers, revolutionary forces and its weapons in Syria,” Jafari said, calling Netanyahu’s threats “a joke”.
“You should be afraid of the day that our precision-guided missiles roar and fall on your head.”
On Monday, Iran denied it was maintaining an armed force in Syria, claiming that it had merely deployed military “advisers” to Syria to assist the Assad regime.
“Iran does not have a military base and military presence in Syria and was present at the request of the Syrian government for advisory mission and fighting the terrorists,” said Bahrem Qasemi, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
A day later, Netanyahu offered his ‘advice’ to Iranian forces in Syria, suggesting they leave immediately, warning Israel would intensify its air campaign if they did not.
"Yesterday I heard the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman saying 'Iran has no military presence in Syria, we only advise them',” said the Israeli premier.
"So let me advise them -- get out of there fast, because we'll continue our forceful policy of attacking, as we promised and are doing, fearlessly and relentlessly," Netanyahu continued.
On Friday, Israeli warplanes bombed Iranian weapons depots in Syria. Prime Minister Netanyahu confirmed the attacks over the weekend, a rare admission by Israel, which usually maintains a policy of ambiguity regarding strikes on Syrian targets.
