Respective UN ambassadors Danny Dannon and Nikki Haley express their countries’ powerful alliance as Israel and the US troops face a common enemy in Syria.
“The US & Israel will always stand together in the face of Iran’s aggression and provocations as it attempts to destabilize the region,” Danon wrote on Twitter. “The international community mustn’t stand idly by as the Iranian threat grows rampant.”
Danon made his statement shortly after his US counterpart, Nikki Haley addressed the UN Security Council regarding the developments in Syria. Haley slammed Iran while defending the Israeli downing of an Iranian drone that penetrated Israeli airspace.
“Iran was once again doing what it does – risking conflict and testing the will of its neighbors and opponents to resist its aggression,” Haley said o the UNSC. “Israel rightly took action to defend itself. The United States will always stand by our ally when confronted with provocations from Iran, Hezbollah or the Assad regime.”
Haley’s remarks refer to an incident last Saturday when an Iranian drone was sent out from a Syrian military base into Israel. In what marked the first armed contact between Israel and Iran and the most significant conflict between Israel and Syria in recent years, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) Apache helicopter shot down the drone inside Israeli airspace and the IAF launched retaliatory strikes in Syria which included knocking out the Iranian-manned base controlling the drone. Heavy anti-aircraft response shot down an Israeli F-16.
Haley linked the incident to an attack by Syrian forces against US troops which she called a “wake-up call”.
“Last week, (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s) pro-regime forces launched an unprovoked attack against the Syrian Democratic forces and advisor from the (US-led) defeat-ISIS coalition,” Haley continued. “This was a large attack involving numerous tanks, artillery, and fighters. The (US-led) coalition acted in self-defense to repel the attack.”
This attack that Ambassador Haley referred to brought the US-Israeli alliance to the forefront as the multi-national involvement in the Syrian civil war heats up. On Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported that US and Kurdish forces responded to an attack in Syria and had killed 200 fighters for the Assad regime last week, including many Russian contract soldiers
“The United States will always reserve the right to act in self-defense,” she emphasized to the council. “This attack shows the recklessness of the pro-(Assad) regime fighters.”
Haley asserted that the Assad regime has “become a front for Iran, Hezbollah, and their allies to advance the irresponsible and dangerous agenda for the Middle East.”
“Iran’s mask has been removed. It is clear that they are using Syria as a launchpad for activity against Israel,” he said. “Iran is dragging the region into an adventure and will pay the price for it.”
Haley also pointed her finger in accusation at Russia’s role in Syria, saying they have enabled Assad’s use of chemical weapons.
