Netanyahu urges Iran to ‘get out of Syria fast’

Jerusalem, Jan 15 (IANS) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday urged Iran to "get out of Syria fast".

"I'm telling you, get out of there fast. We won't stop attacking," Netanyahu said during a ceremony, in which he appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi as the new military Chief of Staff.

Netanyahu dismissed as "a lie" the earlier remarks of Hassan Firouzabadi, a senior military adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader, who said Iranian "military advisers" will stay in Syria to defeat terrorists, Xinhua news agency reported.

He also rejected a comment made earlier in the day by Iranian Communications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi on Tehran's failed attempt to place a satellite into orbit.

"They are lying now that they supposedly send an innocent satellite into space, but actually they want to achieve the first stage of an intercontinental missile, contrary to all international agreements," Netanyahu said.

"Iran and its proxy, namely the Lebanon-based Shia military of Hezbollah, are Israel's main enemies.

"We promise to hand a crushing punch against both close and distant enemies," the Prime Minister said, adding that in the upcoming decade, Israel will complete building fences across all its borders.

On Sunday, Netanyahu confirmed that Israel had attacked multiple Iranian sites in Syria over the weekend, in a rare public acknowledgment of such airstrikes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria over the past years, saying the attacks were aimed at Iranian military sites and weapon convoys to Hezbollah.