The Kremlin has given Israel a green light to launch attacks in Syria, as long as they do not target Syrian President Bashar Assad's assets, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Friday.
According to the report, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu assured Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman during their meeting in Moscow on Thursday of Russia's approval for Israeli strikes.
The two defense ministers discussed a de-escalation zone in southern Syria, the Russian news agency TASS reported.
"A lot of questions have built up," Shoigu was quoted by TASS as saying. "We should discuss today everything concerning work on the border in the southern de-escalation zone where we have an agreement with Jordan and the United States."
Israel's Defense Ministry issued a statement saying Lieberman had told Shoigu that "Israel greatly appreciates Russia's understanding of our security needs, especially regarding the situation on our northern border."
The statement said the two met for more than 90 minutes and discussed "security issues of concern to both countries, the situation in Syria and the Israeli campaign to prevent Iranian entrenchment in Syria."
Israeli television reported that the conversation touched on a possible arrangement for the complete removal of any Iranian presence in southern Syria closer than 70 to 80 kilometers (40 to 50 miles) from the Syrian-Israeli border.
Meanwhile, amid reports Thursday that Iranian troops and Hezbollah fighters were preparing to withdraw from southern Syria, media outlets in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin now wants Iranian forces out of Syria entirely.
However, a Syria-based official with the Iran-led axis in Syria denied the "untrue" reports. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, gave no further details.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Iranian advisers and Hezbollah combatants will be withdrawing from the southern regions of Daraa and Quneitra near the Israeli Golan Heights.
Russia had previously demanded that Iran remove its troops and its Shiite militia proxies only from Syria's south along the Jordanian and Israeli borders.
But Russian diplomats told Arab news outlets that Putin has opted for a stronger stance toward Iran, which he now views as a destabilizing element impeding Russian interests in Syria.
"Assad received an unequivocal message that he had to choose between Moscow and Tehran, and apparently he chose the Russian side," a senior official in Assad's regime told Kremlin mouthpiece RT news.
Assad said on Thursday that Iran's presence in Syria was limited to officers assisting the Syrian army.
"We don't have Iranian troops in Syria, only Iranian officers who work with the Syrian army," he said in an interview with Russia Today.
Putin spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone Thursday about the Syrian situation.
According to a brief statement from the Prime Minister's Office, the two discussed "the latest regional developments and Iran's foothold in Syria."
The Kremlin said the conversation focused on "some aspects of the Syrian settlement," following up on the two leaders' talks in Moscow earlier this month. It did not specify which aspects.
The Syrian government's plans to recapture rebel-held areas near the border have raised concerns in both Israel and Jordan that Assad's backers – Iran and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah – could take up positions along the border.
Netanyahu has repeatedly warned that his government will not allow Iran to maintain a permanent military presence anywhere inside Syria.
Last week, the U.S. warned Syria it would take "firm measures" in response to cease-fire violations in southern Syria after reports of Assad's impending military operation in the de-escalation zone.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday the withdrawal of all non-Syrian forces from Syria's southern border with Israel should happen as soon as possible.
