Liberman: Israeli Operation Destroyed Almost Entire Iranian Infrastructure in Syria

Israel’s operation in Syria overnight hit almost the entire Iranian infrastructure in the country, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said Thursday morning in a speech at the Herzliya Conference.

“We have no interest in escalation but we must be prepared for any scenario. We are facing a new reality where Iran is attacking Israel directly and trying to harm Israel’s sovereignty and territories,” the defense minister told the annual policy gathering following a night in which the Israel Air Force struck dozens of Iranian targets in Syria after Iranian forces launched some 20 missiles at the Golan Heights. He also warned that Israel would not allow “Iran to bring anti-aircraft warfare (to Syria) and close Israeli air space.”

Liberman said that the Iranian attack was foiled by Israel and not a single missile landed in Israeli territory. “They either fell in Syria or were intercepted by Iron Dome. No building or person or infrastructure was hit. We have hit almost all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria. They must remember that if it rains here (in Israel) it will pour there.”

Liberman said Israel had no expansionist designs toward Syria and it was Iran that “is constantly trying to spread and create new proxies and fronts. We see that not only toward the State of Israel, but also in Yemen, in Iraq, in Lebanon, and in Africa as well.  Iran is today the only country which displays its extremism both actively and with willingness to sacrifice its citizens for extremist ideology. They fund Hezbollah, Hamas and Shi’ite militias, all this it costs money at the expense of Iranian citizens.”

That policy Liberman said could well backfire for Tehran, saying there was unrest among Iran’s middle class and civil disobedience could reemerge. “The Iranian currency is collapsing, and the whole economy is in a state of collapse,” said Lieberman, adding that the situation in Iran reminded him of the situation before the Soviet Union before its collapse.

Liberman said Israel had no problem with the Iranian people and that he hoped  that Iran would one day stop talking about the destruction of Israel. But he warned, “Iran is a stubborn enemy that has been trying to hurt us for many years… I hope that at this stage we have succeeded in finishing the new chapter in our stand against Iranian extremism”.