Israeli minister vows to strike any Iran ‘military foothold’ in Syria

JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed in an interview Thursday to strike at any attempt by Iran to establish a "military foothold" in Syria, following an attack this month attributed to his country.

Speaking with a news website run by a Saudi businessman that regularly interviews Israeli officials, Lieberman also threatened firm retaliation if Israel was attacked by Iran. "If they attack Tel Aviv, we´ll strike Tehran," he told the Elaph website.

The comments came as Lieberman visited Washington to meet US National Security Adviser John Bolton and other officials to discuss what his office called Iran´s "expansion" in the Middle East.

"We don´t intervene in the war, don´t fight there, but Iran is trying to establish bases there and attack us from there with advanced arms it brings to them," Lieberman said of neighbouring Syria. "I can´t stand by when I see Iran do that close to the Golan, and when it supports Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon, and tries to establish a foothold in Syria in order to attack Israel." He added that "any site in which we see an Iranian attempt to achieve a military foothold in Syria will be struck. We won´t let that happen, regardless of the price."