Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged on Friday the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar Assad, to rid Syria of Iranian forces, warning their presence endangers his country.
"Assad, get rid of the Iranians ... they are not helping you ... their presence will only cause problems and damages," Lieberman said.
Speaking while touring the Israeli side of the occupied Golan Heights, Lieberman said Israel does not "look for friction ... we did not come to the Iranian border, they came here."
Israel attacked dozens of Iranian targets in Syria this week in response to an Iranian rocket barrage in the most serious military confrontation between the two bitter enemies to date.
Israel has warned it will not tolerate its archenemy Iran establishing a military presence on its doorstep.
But Iran, which is fighting alongside Assad’s forces in the Syrian war, on Friday condemned Israel's air raids, saying they had been launched under “fabricated and baseless excuses.”
"Iran firmly condemns the attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi, cited by semi-official news agency ISNA.
"The repeated attacks by the Zionist regime on Syrian territory were carried out under pretexts that were fabricated by themselves, and are baseless," he added.
