Iranian forces in Syria have withdrawn their heavy weapons to a distance of 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the border with Israel, Russian media reported Wednesday.
Alexander Lavrentiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy to Syria, told the Interfax news agency that Russia has reached an agreement with Israel that includes Russian guarantees ensuring that Iran-backed fighters will maintain this as a minimum distance from the Israel-Syria border on the Golan Heights.
He said the agreement was reached in order to avoid "irritating" Israel. He did not elaborate on when the agreement was forged or on any of its other details.
On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted by Interfax as saying that Russia plans to deploy military police on the Golan Heights frontier and set up eight observation posts there.
"With the aim of preventing possible provocations against U.N. posts along the 'Bravo' line, the deployment is planned of eight observation posts of Russia's armed forces' military police," Sergei Rudskoi, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted as saying.
Backed by Russia, Iran, and the Lebanon-based Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, Syrian President Bashar Assad recently seized control of the country's southwest, closing in on the Golan.
Russia has sought to reassure Israel by saying it wants only Syrian forces deployed on or near the Syrian Golan border.
Israel, however, insists that Iran-backed forces be removed from Syria altogether.
"The Iranians withdrew and the Shiite formations are not there," Lavrentiev was quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS.
He said Iranian service personnel, whom he described as "advisers," could be among Syrian army forces deployed closer to the Israeli border, but stressed that "there are no units of heavy equipment and weapons that could pose a threat to Israel at a distance of 85 kilometers from the line of demarcation."
An Israeli official deemed such a pullback insufficient.
"What we have laid down as a red line is military intervention and entrenchment by Iran in Syria, and not necessarily on our border," Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi told Israel Radio, citing the longer-range threat posed by Iranian missiles or drones positioned in Syria.
"There will be no compromises nor concessions on this matter," he said.
Last week, an Israeli official said Russia had offered to keep Iranian forces at least 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Golan Heights border.
Israel rejected the offer, which was made during a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In an apparent response, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said on Monday that Moscow could not compel Iran to leave Syria.
But Viktorov also signaled that Russia would continue to turn a blind eye to Israeli airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah weapon transfers or emplacements in Syria.
Hanegbi said Israel wants to prevent Iran and Hezbollah from effectively extending their Lebanese front against it.
"We are not ready to see a new Hezbollah front on the border between Israel and Syria. This is something that is dangerous. If we don't prevent this from happening today, when we still can, it will exact a heavy price from us down the line," he said.
