Iran accuses Israel of destabilizing Syria, urges UN to intercede

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday urged the Security Council to hold Israel accountable for what he described as its destabilization of Syria.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the situation of Syria, Amir-Saeid Iravani called Israel "the greatest threat to the present and future of Syria.”

“Israel continues to violate Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the Security Council must take decisive action to stop and hold Israel accountable for its destabilizing actions," he said.

Since the beginning of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria to quash Iran’s influence and interrupt supply routes to Hezbollah in Lebanon, its most powerful armed ally in the region.

In December, the Bashar al-Assad government - a key pillar of Iran’s influence in the region - fell despite 13 years of Iranian military support.

Iravani said Iran's presence in Syria "has been legal, in accordance with international law and at the request of the Syrian government at the time."

Iran's military withdrawal, he added, was "carried out responsibly, taking into account the potential impacts on the Syrian people."

Iranian forces have largely quit Syria following Assad's fall, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing US, European, and Arab officials.

Members of Iran’s Quds Force have now relocated to Iran and pro-Assad militia groups have disbanded, the report added, citing a senior US official.

According to Western and Arab officials cited, most forces in eastern Syria—including Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers and Afghan, Iraqi, Lebanese and Syrian fighters—retreated to al-Qaim, a border town on the Iraqi side.

Some Iranian personnel based in Damascus flew to Tehran, while Hezbollah fighters in western Syria fled overland to Lebanon, they added.