German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May have allegedly reached a “widespread agreement” about the need to completely remove the Iranian military presence from Syria, The Times of Israel reported, citing a senior diplomatic official.
This development comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wraps up his diplomatic trip to Europe, with his only goal during this voyage being, reportedly by his own admission, "to bring an international agreement that Iran would leave Syria."
"My point was to harness the leading European countries to oppose the continued expansion of Iran," the newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying.
The official added that Netanyahu also sought to persuade European leaders to follow the example of US President Donald Trump and to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, though Prime Minister May had reportedly declined this proposal.
Tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran have been increasing of late as Tel Aviv repeatedly accused Tehran of building up its military presence in Syria, and carried out a series of airstrikes against alleged Iranian assets in the Middle Eastern country.
Syrian President Bashar Assad however dismissed these allegations, pointing out that while there are Iranian military officers who assist the Syrian Arab Army as advisers, there are no Iranian troops in Syria.