Israel urges Syria to evict Iranians

Defense minister warns presence of forces will cause trouble

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister on Friday called on President Bashar Assad to “get rid” of Iranian forces in Syria, warning their continued presence would only cause trouble.

Iran, meanwhile, in its first official reaction to Israeli attacks on suspected Iranian targets in Syria, said Israel’s attacks came “under fabricated and baseless excuses.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Braham Ghasemi added that Damascus has the legitimate right to respond to what it said were repeated violations of the country’s sovereignty.

A hard-line Iranian cleric threatened his country would retaliate if Israel “does anything foolish.”

Israel attacked dozens of suspected Iranian targets in Syria in overnight strikes this week that it said were in response to an Iranian rocket barrage. It was the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date. The cross-border exchange gave way to a war of words.

U.N. Secretary-general Antonio Guterres called late Thursday for an immediate halt to “all hostile acts” to avoid “a new conflagration” in the Middle East.

Guterres’ comments came as a calm night followed intense attacks on parts of Syria by Israel. Israel has called on the U.N. Security Council and secretary-general to condemn Iran’s attack on its positions in the Golan Heights.

The Security Council, deeply divided over Syria, is highly unlikely to issue a statement and as of Friday morning no council member had asked for a meeting.

Speaking while touring the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel is not looking for friction.

“We did not come to the Iranian border, they came here,” he said.

Iran has advisers and experts and has backed tens of thousands of militiamen who are fighting alongside Assad’s forces in the civil war.

Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep.

Israel and Iran have long fought each other through proxies, and with the new exchange each seemed to be sending a warning that a direct clash between them could swiftly escalate.