Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid before a press conference following a meeting at the Reception House of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS.

i24 News – Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Thursday to discuss a wide range of diplomatic and security issues.

Lapid began his statement beside Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by noting that it was Russian soldiers who, 76 years ago, liberated his father from the Budapest Ghetto.

“Three years later, the people of Russia supported the creation of the State of Israel, and we owe you. And we are a people with a long memory,” Lapid said.

Israel’s foreign minister went on to say, “Unfortunately there won’t be security in Syria or the wider Middle East while there is an Iranian presence [there]. Iran is the world’s number one exporter of terror, and it threatens us all.”

Israel and Iran have a complicated relationship in the Syrian arena.

Russia is the Syrian government’s closest ally, reversing the collapsing Assad regime’s fortunes when Moscow brought its airpower to bear in the civil war in 2015.

Iran is also an ally of Syria, and a sometimes rival, sometimes friend to Russia.

According to foreign media reports, Israel has repeatedly targeted Iranian assets — most notably Hezbollah — in Syria, bringing its fighter aircraft into conflict with Russian-supplied air defenses.

But the two countries are careful not to antagonize each other.

“We of course recognize that Russia has key interests in the region,” Lapid said during Thursday’s press conference.

Israel’s foreign minister was keen to put the blame for any friction at Iran’s door.

“The last two IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reports are damning — they include serious violations, fraud, deception and outright lies,” he said, referring to the observations the organization makes of Iranian nuclear facilities.

“Iran’s march towards a nuclear weapon is not only an Israeli problem. It is a problem for the entire world,” Lapid said.