WarSclerotic

A top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed his country’s “strategic relationship” with Russia on Wednesday during a visit to Moscow, part of a diplomatic offensive by Tehran as it braces for renewed U.S. sanctions.

Ali Akbar Velayati, who was due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday, also took a swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump, saying his “unreliable” actions made Tehran’s close ties with Moscow all the more necessary.

In May, the U.S. pulled out of a multinational nuclear agreement, under which crippling economic sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for curbs on Iran’s controversial nuclear program.  Washington intends to re-impose sanctions on Iran and has threatened other countries with sanctions if they continue to import oil from Iran starting Nov. 4.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who views Iran as Israel’s arch-enemy and strongly backs Trump’s decision to quit the nuclear deal, was also visiting Moscow on Wednesday.

Asked about Netanyahu’s visit, Velayati said, “His presence or absence in Russia has no effect on our strategic mission in Moscow.”

Israel has waged an unrelenting campaign to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in neighboring Syria, where Iranian and Iran-affiliated forces have been supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad in a yearslong war against rebels. Part of Israel’s efforts have included attacks on Iranian targets there.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a special adviser on international affairs to the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Velayati would discuss ways to confront U.S. policy in the Middle East region in his meeting with Putin. He said further that Netanyahu was likely to ask for Putin’s help to push Iran’s military advisers out of Syria but added that this was an issue that could only be decided between Tehran and Damascus.

Amir-Abdollahian was quoted by Iranian state media as saying Wednesday that a “frank dialogue with Russian leaders at the highest levels and exchanging views can lead to the views of the two countries moving closer and help in finding ways to increase stability and security in the region and confront the improper policies of America and its allies.”

Upon arriving in Moscow, Velyati asserted that “The relationship between Iran and the Russian Federation is a strategic relationship and in recent years the collective, bilateral and regional relations have expanded.”

He said he would deliver messages to Putin from Iran’s Supreme Leader and President Hassan Rouhani and that they would discuss the “very sensitive” global situation.

Velayati was also due to meet Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow.

A U.S. State Department official said this month that Washington’s goal was to get as many countries as possible down to zero Iranian oil imports. However, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that Washington might consider requests from certain countries to be exempted from sanctions.

After the U.S. withdrawal, the other world powers involved in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain – have said they still support the accord.

But European firms are reluctant to risk far-reaching U.S. financial penalties they would face for doing business in Iran.

Trump and Putin are expected to discuss Iran’s regional role and the Syrian conflict at a summit in Helsinki next Monday.

Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems on Thursday ‎unveiled a 1.6-ton drone designed to fly in civilian ‎airspace and assist in homeland security missions. ‎

The move came hours after U.S. rival General ‎Atomics’ MQ-9B SkyGuardian – a version of ‎the widely ‎used Predator family of drones – completed its ‎Atlantic ‎crossing on Wednesday ahead ‎of the Farnborough Airshow, the world’s ‎largest ‎military airshow, set to take place in Britain next week. ‎

Changing security concerns following the dismantling ‎of Islamic State and rising geopolitical tensions ‎have caused European and other countries to shift defense ‎efforts from far-away conflicts to homeland ‎security, resulting in demand for drones that can be ‎safely integrated into civilian airspace to, for ‎example, monitor border crossings, Elbit officials ‎said.‎

A version of Elbit’s Hermes 900 StarLiner is being ‎assembled for the Swiss armed forces and is ‎scheduled to be delivered in 2019 in a deal worth ‎‎$200 million.‎

The StarLiner, launched ahead of the ‎Farnborough Airshow, is derived from the Hermes 900 ‎drone, which was operated by Brazil for surveillance during the 2014 ‎World Cup. That operation required closing off ‎airspace to civilian aircraft, something the ‎StarLiner, with technology to detect aircraft and ‎avoid collisions, will not require, Elbit said.‎

The drone is compliant with NATO criteria, ‎qualifying it to be integrated into civilian ‎airspace, Elbit said, but it will still need the approval of ‎various civil aviation authorities.‎

The StarLiner has been flying in civilian airspace ‎in Israel over the past year. It can reach 30,000 ‎feet – the altitude ‎of some commercial jets – and ‎photograph an 80 ‎square-kilometer (31 square-mile) ‎area. The drone can be equipped with radar, cameras to ‎‎‎take video and still pictures, and signals ‎‎‎intelligence to analyze electronic signals.‎

‎”Some customers would like to use the system to ‎‎gather intelligence,” Elbit CEO Bezhalel Machlis ‎‎said. “Another example can be for homeland security ‎‎applications, to fly above an area and make sure it ‎‎is monitored against terrorist activities.”‎

‎Elad Aharonson, general manager of ‎Elbit’s ISTAR ‎division, said the company is “getting a lot of interest from ‎customers for ‎the same configuration from all over ‎the world. This is a major step toward unmanned civilian ‎‎planes.”

He added that the main barrier to ‎‎such aircraft would be psychological rather than ‎‎technical. ‎

Elbit expects to receive approval from the European ‎Aviation Safety Agency for its own product in ‎the coming months.‎

Israel’s drone exports between 2005 and 2012 totaled ‎‎$4.6 billion, according to consultancy Frost & ‎Sullivan. They reached $525 million in 2016, ‎accounting for 7% percent of Israel’s defense ‎exports, Defense Ministry data shows.‎

Drones are a major source of revenue for Elbit and ‎state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries. The United ‎States and Israel dominate the industry but face ‎growing competition from cheaper Chinese drones.‎

U.S. military drone makers are vying for a larger ‎share of the global market, which market researcher ‎the Teal Group forecasts will rise from $2.8 billion ‎in 2016 to $9.4 billion in 2025.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday for talks focusing on Iran’s actions in Syria – an issue that is expected to top the agenda of the upcoming U.S.-Russian summit.

Israel has repeatedly objected to an Iranian military presence in neighboring Syria, where Iranian and Iran-affiliated forces have been supporting President Bashar Assad in a yearslong civil war. Israel has bombed a number Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria as part of a campaign to prevent Iran and its proxies from establishing a permanent presence there.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu told Putin on Wednesday that Israel does not intend to threaten Assad’s rule in Syria and asked Moscow to work to remove Iranian forces from Syria.

“We won’t take action against the Assad regime, and you get the Iranians out,” the official, who requested anonymity, quoted Netanyahu as telling Putin.

David Keyes, a Netanyahu spokesman, denied that the prime minister made that statement to Putin.

Asked to summarize Israeli policy on Syria, Keyes said, “We don’t get involved in the civil war. We will act against anyone who acts against us.”

Russia is already working to distance Iranian forces from areas of Syria near the Israeli border and had proposed that they be kept 80 km (50 miles) away, but this fell short of Israel’s demand for a full exit, the official said

At his meeting with Putin, Netanyahu hailed the warm relations between Russia and Israel, emphasizing what he described as their key stabilizing role for the Middle East.

“Every visit like this is an opportunity for us to act together and try and stabilize the situation in our region and increase security and increase stability,” Netanyahu said.

He said the cooperation between Israel and Russia was “a central component in preventing a conflagration and deterioration of these and other situations; therefore, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to discuss these matters and, of course, all other issues.”

Netanyahu said Israel was operating “in an unexpected place,” explaining that Israel was not merely avoiding clashes with Russian forces in Syria, “we also coordinate between the armies all the time, including at this hour. These meetings are ongoing and will continue in any situation.”

He said Israel would work to ensure “operational freedom [in Syria] in accordance with the principles we have set: If we see Iranians, we act against them. If we see Hezbollah, we act against it.”

Russia, another top key ally of Assad, has warned it would be unrealistic to expect Iran to fully withdraw from the country. However, there have recently been signs of an emerging compromise among key players.

Ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Putin, scheduled for Monday in Helsinki, media reports suggested that the two leaders could potentially reach a deal that would see the deployment of Syrian government forces alongside the frontier with the Israeli Golan Heights and the withdrawal of Iranian forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah from the area.

While Russia and Iran have both deployed forces in Syria to help prop up Assad’s government, their interests do not always converge.

In a reminder of the volatile situation, Netanyahu touched on an incident earlier Wednesday, in which the Israeli military shot down a Syrian drone that had infiltrated Israeli airspace from Jordan.

“We will continue to act decisively against any spillover and any infiltration of Israeli territory or airspace,” Netanyahu said.

He added that Israel expects Syria to strictly observe a 1974 armistice that demarcated a demilitarized zone along the Israel-Syria border and limited the number of forces each side can deploy within 25 kilometers (15 miles) of the zone.

Israel has been on high alert as Assad’s forces advance on rebels in the vicinity of the Golan Heights. Israel worries Assad may allow his Iranian and Hezbollah reinforcements to entrench near the border with Israel, or that Syrian forces may defy a 1974 Golan demilitarization agreement.

Since turning the tide of Syria’s civil war by intervening militarily in 2015 on Assad’s behalf, Russia has turned a blind eye to scores of Israeli airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah deployments or arms transfers, while making clear it wanted Assad kept immune.

The Israeli official who requested anonymity said Russia was working to distance Iranian forces from the Golan and had proposed that they be kept 80 km (50 miles) away but that this fell short of Israel’s demand for their full exit along with that of Tehran-sponsored militias.

Russian officials had no immediate comment on the meeting.

Israeli cabinet ministers threatened this week to fire on Syrian forces that enter the Golan buffer zone set up as part of a 1974 U.N.-monitored armistice. The United Nations last month renewed the mandate of its Golan observer force UNDOF and on Wednesday called on all parties to abide by the armistice.

“There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than those of UNDOF,” a U.N. spokesman said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in an interview with Italian newspaper Il Giornale published Wednesday that Moscow hopes that Israel and Iran will both display caution and avoid a showdown.

“Their use of military force in Syria would inevitably lead to an escalation of tensions across the entire Middle East region,” he said. “In that context, we rely on peaceful diplomatic means to resolve any differences and expect both sides to show restraint.”

Israeli forces attacked Syrian military positions near the countries’ shared border early Thursday, the ‎IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed Thursday

Syrian state media also confirmed the incident, saying ‎the country’s air defenses “thwarted much of the ‎attack.”

The Israeli military posted a video featuring footage of IAF missiles hitting what ‎appeared to be a hut, a ‎two-story structure and a ‎five-story structure ‎amid hilly terrain.‎

The Syrian Arab News Agency quoted a Syrian military source as saying that ‎”The attack near Hader at the frontier of the ‎‎Israeli-occupied Golan Heights caused only material ‎‎damages.”

Some Arab media reports said the strike had resulted in several casualties. ‎

‎The Israeli strike came in retaliation ‎for a Syrian drone incursion into Israeli territory ‎on Wednesday. The drone was shot down by a Patriot ‎missile over northern Israel, the military said.‎

IDF Spokesman in English Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus ‎said the drone was continuously monitored as it ‎traveled about 10 kilometers (6 miles) ‎inside ‎Israeli airspace. ‎

He explained ‎that the IDF “scrambled four fighter jets that were ‎on standby ‎for similar missions as well as two ‎attack ‎helicopters” toward the Syrian drone.‎

Conricus ‎said that after the drone was destroyed by ‎‎a single Patriot missile, the debris landed near ‎‎the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel.‎

Military officials believe the drone ‎was on an ‎‎intelligence-gathering mission, but it was not clear whether it had purposely entered Israel or had simply strayed from ‎‎its intended path, originating in Jordanian ‎airspace.‎

The military issued a statement warning that it ‎‎‎”will not allow any violation of Israeli airspace ‎‎and will act against any attempt to harm its ‎‎civilians.”‎

‎”The IDF holds the Syrian ‎‎regime accountable for the ‎actions carried out in ‎‎its territory and warns it ‎from further action ‎‎against Israeli forces,” the ‎statement said.‎

‎Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on a state ‎visit to Russia, reiterated that Israel will hold ‎Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime responsible ‎for any attempt to compromise Israel’s security on the ‎Golan Heights. ‎

‎”A few hours ago, a Syrian aircraft infiltrated ‎Israel’s airspace,” he said. “We intercepted it, and ‎we will continue to act decisively against any ‎spillover and any infiltration of Israeli territory ‎or airspace.”‎

In his meeting with Russian President Vladimir ‎Putin, Netanyahu stressed that Israel does not ‎intend to threaten Assad’s rule, but stressed that ‎Moscow must work to remove Iranian forces from the ‎war-torn country. ‎

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon called on ‎the Security Council to ‎condemn Wednesday’s drone ‎incursion as a “dangerous ‎act that not only ‎threatens Israel, but the ‎stability of the entire ‎region.”‎

He said the incursion threatened “the safety and ‎‎security of Israel’s northern cities and towns” and ‎‎added that Israel has “repeatedly warned the ‎‎Security Council of the destabilizing activities ‎‎taking place in Syria and the threats they pose to ‎‎Israel and the Middle East.”‎

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who toured the ‎Israel-Syria border Wednesday, promised a “harsh ‎response” to any attempt by Syrian forces to advance toward the Israeli border area, which has been demilitarized under ‎a Separation of Forces Agreement since 1974.‎