by James Tweedie

IRAN showed off its new ballistic missiles yesterday after the Israeli defence minister accused the Syrian government of letting Tehran and Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah use its territory to launch attacks on Israel.

The missiles used to hit Isis targets in eastern Syria this week — with permission from the governments of Syria
and Iraq, whose airspace they crossed — were on display
at the annual al-Quds (Jerusalem) day parade against
zionism.

Speaking at a security conference in the coastal city of Herzliya on Thursday evening, Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman threatened retaliation against Damascus for the actions of its allies.

“I warn the Syrian government that is encouraging them, both Hezbollah and Iran, from turning Syria into a front-line base against Israel.

“When there’s a need to act, we will certainly act.”

Mr Lieberman welcomed talks between Russia — another ally of Damascus — and the US on ceasefire and “buffer” zones, but added that Tele Aviv would not be bound by any deals reached.

“I hope they will reach mutual understanding, good agreements. But this will not limit our freedom of actions,” he said.

Moscow-Washington relations took a new nose dive on Monday when a US fighter plane shot down a Syrian attack jet that was bombing Isis positions south of Raqqa, where Pentagon-backed Kurdish militia forces are fighting.

On Monday, Israeli military chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot denied reports in the British and US media that Tel Aviv was funding and arming US-backed Free Syrian Army insurgents in Syria.

And he appeared to admit that his planes had bombed Hezbollah forces in Syria, saying: “There were actions to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons in order to harm Israel.”