Iranian military chief Mohammad Bagheri. Photo: Tasnim News Agency via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – During a visit to Damascus on Wednesday for talks with Syrian officials, Iran’s military chief vowed to confront Israel and defend the Assad regime.

“It is not acceptable for the Zionist regime to violate Syria anytime it wants,” said Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. “We are in Damascus to assert and coordinate and cooperate to confront our common enemies, the Zionists and terrorists.”

Bagheri’s comments came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Jerusalem for discussions on Iran and security coordination in Syria.

“Iran needs to understand that Israel will not allow this,” Netanyahu told Shoigu regarding the Islamic Republic’s attempt to entrench its military in Syria, near the Israeli border.

Netanyahu also raised the issue of the July 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which was recently decertified by the Trump administration, warning that the Tehran regime will have an arsenal of nuclear weapons within 8-10 years if the accord is not changed.

The Russian defense minister arrived in Israel on Monday just hours after the Israeli military launched a strike against a Syrian army anti-aircraft battery, after the battery opened fire on Israeli Air Force planes.