Intelligence official says Russia must contain Iran in Syria

Russia must work to ensure that Iran is unable to establish a military presence in Syria that poses a threat to Israel and the region, the director-general of the Intelligence Ministry told Reuters on Tuesday.

Chagai Tzuriel, who told The Times of Israel last month “the most important strategic issue we’re currently facing is the strengthening of the Shiite axis led by Iran in Syria,” warned that Iran is seeking to exploit its status as one of the main backers of the Syrian regime in order to establish a long-term military presence in the country.

“Iran is in the process of putting together agreements, including economic agreements, with Syria to strengthen its hold, its ports and naval bases there,” he said.

He added: “There is a need for Russia and other powers to work to avoid the threat that Iran ends up with military, air and naval bases in Syria.”

According to Tzuriel, the six-year long Syrian civil war has undermined the balance of power in the region to Iran’s advantage, which poses a threat to both Russia and other world powers’ interests in the Middle East.

“When it comes to Iran, the United States, Russia and other powers need to understand that (growing Iranian influence in Syria) is going to be a constant source of friction,” he said.

“Russia has a vested interest in keeping that threat contained.”

Tzuriel told Reuters that as “we have to assume that the Russians want stability, they want a Pax Russiana in the region,” Russia will need to cooperate with other regional stakeholders and not pursue its interests alone.

“If they want a stabilization, they can’t do it alone. They need the United States, they need regional powers, they need opposition parties and militias, even those that are not exactly Russia’s cup of tea.”

Tzuriel also that “we don’t view Russia as the enemy and I don’t think they view us as the enemy either.”

Since Russia’s intervention in the Syrian conflict in 2015 on behalf of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Israel has sought to coordinate with Moscow in order to preserve its ability to carry out airstrikes against weapons convoys in Syria and prevent any military mix-ups.

However, following Israel’s most recent raid in Syria on Friday, which resulted in Syria unsuccessfully firing a number of anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli planes, the Russian government summoned Israel’s Ambassador to Russia Gary Koren in order to provide clarifications on the airstrikes.

On Monday, Koren said that he believes Russia can help prevent an escalation between Israel and Syria, saying “we hope that Russia and Syria’s allies will use (their) influence to bring Damascus to reason.”