(Ha'aretz) Anshel Pfeffer - Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in Iran on Wednesday for a trilateral summit along with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev. Sources close to the Kremlin have said in recent months that Putin is not planning to demand that Iran remove its military advisers or the Shi'a militias it controls from Syria, as they are among the main factors in ensuring the survival of the Assad regime. However, Putin is interested in preventing a major Israeli intervention in Syria and is prepared to guarantee that Syria will not become a base for attacks on Israel. While Iran has grand plans to build its own airbase and seaport in Syria, Israel's policy is to increase the pressure against base-building. Israeli intelligence analysts believe that a final decision on bases has yet to be made in Tehran.
2017-10-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive