Iran plans to send 100,000 Shia fighters to ‘colonize’ Syria: NetanyahuJanuary 10, 2018 - 10:57 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, January 9 that Iran intended to send 100,000 Shia fighters to Syria in an effort to “colonize” the country, Sputnik reports. “As part of Iran’s plans of conquest and colonization of Syria, they want to bring in as many as 100,000 Shias, Shia fighters… not Iranians, under Iranian command,” Netanyahu said during a lunch with NATO ambassadors in Jerusalem. Netanyahu stressed that this move might escalate tensions in the region and would lead to the emergence of new terrorist groups born out of Daesh and Al Qaeda. The Israeli prime minister noted that the potential confrontation would affect Europe, as it would become the destination for those fleeing the hostilities, if they were to begin. He also stressed that Israel was currently the only state that was trying to prevent this from happening. “Where will the spillover happen? In Europe. Where will the human flow go? To Europe. Who is preventing it right now? Israel? Right now, Israel alone. But I maintain that this is a common interest that we have in NATO,” Netanyahu said. Israel regards Iran as its number one threat, citing its curtailed but existing nuclear program, hostile rhetoric, and support offered to anti-Israel forces throughout the Middle East. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |