The Israel-Syria border area. Photo: DYKT Mohigan via Wikimedia Commons.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that only Syrian government troops should have a presence on Syria‘s southern border, which is close to Israel and Jordan.

Rebels hold stretches of that area and intensive Israeli airstrikes in Syria this month were prompted by what Israel said was Iranian rocket fire from the area into the Golan Heights.

Russia and Iran are close allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“Of course, the withdrawal of all non-Syrian forces must be carried out on a mutual basis, this should be a two-way street,” Lavrov said at a joint news conference in Moscow with Jose Condungua Pacheco, his counterpart from Mozambique.

“The result of this work which should continue and is continuing should be a situation when representatives of the Syrian Arab Republic’s army stand at Syria‘s border with Israel,” Lavrov said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported Syrian army movements into the south and state media have reported leaflet drops on rebel-held areas there urging insurgents to accept government rule, two signs a military offensive may be coming.