Mossad chief: Wherever ISIS retreats, Iran fills the void

Mossad chief: Wherever ISIS retreats, Iran fills the void

Mossad Director Yossi Cohen warns that Iran is gaining strength in the region — a potentially serious threat to Israeli security • Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Cohen’s warning proves fundamental assumptions behind Iran nuclear deal were wrong.

Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon and Israel Hayom Staff

Mossad Director Yossi Cohen | Photo credit: Oren Ben Hakoon

Syrian government forces seized full control of two positions near the Jordanian border in the southeast of the country after engaging in combat with rebels for two days.

In the northeastern region of Syria, the Syrian army, with the help of Iran-backed Shiite militias, seized the last major town in Homs province held by the Islamic State group, Syrian state media reported on Saturday as the army and its allies pressed a multi-pronged advance into eastern areas held by the jihadist group.

Syrian state media cited a military source saying Islamic State militants had been killed and their weapons destroyed in the town of al-Sukhna, which the army believes will soon fall as well.

The string of local victories by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad is generating concern among regional powers, especially in Jordan where the presence of Iranian-affiliated forces along the border is particularly alarming, as they may try to destabilize the Sunni kingdom.

One Jordanian minister declared Sunday that his country would not accept the presence of Shiite militias at its borders, and that such a notion was „unthinkable.”

In Lebanon, too, the growing power of local militia Hezbollah is cause for alarm.

In the ongoing civil war in Syria, which has entered its sixth year, Assad has consistently received extensive military support from Russia and Iran, while the U.S. is now gradually pulling most of its backing from the various rebel groups it once supported. A military victory for Assad’s army in the eastern part of the country could link Syria, which is backed by Iran, with Shiite Iraq. Such a link would be the realization of the „Shiite axis” that many Israeli experts have warned against.

On Sunday, Mossad Director Yossi Cohen warned that Iran was gaining strength in the region and that this could pose a serious threat to Israeli security.

Cohen briefed cabinet ministers on the various threats and challenges facing Israel, placing a particular emphasis on Iran and its involvement in Syria, making note of the cease-fire that was declared in the southern part of the country last month.

The Mossad chief noted the rejection of Israel’s repeated demand that the cease-fire agreement, brokered by Russia and the U.S., specifically stipulate the removal of Iran-affiliated and Shiite militias from the Israeli border region, and stressed that this was not something that Israel should tolerate.

Cohen also told the ministers that since the signing of the nuclear agreement, Iran’s economy has been booming. As for the agreement itself, Cohen insisted that Iran has not abandoned its nuclear aspirations, despite the 10-year delay stipulated in the agreement.

„Iran has not abandoned its wish to become a nuclear threshold state,” Cohen said. „The nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran only serves to amplify this desire and intensify Iran’s aggression in the region.”

„The main trend in the Middle East today is the Iranian expansion by way of Iranian forces and local proxies based in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen,” he added. „Wherever ISIS retreats, Iran works to fill the void.”

Also at the briefing Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Cohen’s warnings served as „clear proof that the fundamental assumptions at the basis of the nuclear agreement with Iran were wrong.”

„Israel is not bound in any way by the international agreements signed by Iran. Israel will continue to work decisively, in a variety of avenues, to defend itself from these threats,” the prime minister added.

At an event in Ashdod later Sunday, Netanyahu touched on the same topic saying that „ISIS exits, Iran enters. Simple. We are talking mainly about Syria. Now, our policy is clear: We are categorically opposed to Iran and its proxies establishing themselves militarily, primarily Hezbollah in Syria, and we will do everything necessary to maintain Israel’s security.”

„Above all else, we know that to build our land and to be built in our land we need to protect our land,” he said.