Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a fragment from an Iranian drone during an address to the Munich Security Conference, February 2018. Photo: Screenshot.

JNS.org – Iran is the primary destabilizing factor in the ‎‎Middle East, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ‎Sunday, adding that “the ‎fight against the Islamic ‎republic’s aggression is ‎not over. It is still ‎ongoing.”‎

Speaking ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, ‎Netanyahu addressed the volatile situation on the ‎northern borders, saying that Israel will continue ‎to spare no effort to prevent ‎Iran from entrenching ‎itself militarily in Syria, ‎including foiling any ‎weapon deliveries from Syria ‎to Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in ‎Lebanon.

Commenting on the alleged Israeli strike on ‎Hezbollah weapon depots Friday, Netanyahu said Israel will continue to ‎undermine any plans by Iran or Hezbollah to produce ‎game-changing weapons in Lebanon. ‎

‎”We are working to prevent Iran from obtaining ‎nuclear weapons and we are also working to prevent ‎Iran from establishing itself in Syria, where it can ‎act against us. We are also working to prevent the delivery of lethal weapons from Syria to Lebanon or their production in Lebanon. All these weapons are aimed against the state of ‎Israel. We have the right to self-defense and ‎therefore the right to prevent their production and ‎transfer,” the prime minister stressed. ‎

Netanyahu said that he spoke with US Secretary of ‎State Mike Pompeo over the weekend.

‎”I told him I greatly appreciated the American ‎administration’s steadfast position on the nuclear ‎agreement and against Iranian aggression in our ‎region,” he said. ‎

Commenting on the riots on the Israel-Gaza Strip ‎border, the prime minister stressed that “Israel ‎will not tolerate attacks emanating from Gaza. Our ‎security forces are working around the clock to ‎defend the State of Israel, its borders and its ‎citizens,” he said. ‎