MOSCOW/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iranian forces have withdrawn their heavy weapons in Syria to a distance of 85 km (53 miles) from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, TASS quoted a Russian envoy as saying on Wednesday, but Israel deemed the pullback inadequate.
Backed by Russia, Iran, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah Shi’ite militia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has retaken territory in southern-western Syria from rebels, closing in on the Golan.
Moscow has sought to reassure Israel by saying it wants only Syrian forces to deploy on or near the Syrian-held Golan. Israel, however, insists that forces controlled by Iran, its arch-foe, exit Syria entirely now the civil war there is ending.
“The Iranians withdrew and the Shi’ite formations are not there,” TASS news agency quoted Alexander Lavrentiev, President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to Syria, as saying.