Iran FM Says War with ‘Adventurist’ Israel Not Unlikely

“There is adventurism on Israel’s side, and adventurism is always dangerous,” Zarif said in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper published on Wednesday.

Iran is in Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government, while Israel is violating Lebanese and Syrian air space, as well as international law, Zarif said.

Asked about the possibility of a military conflict between Iran and Israel, he said he does not see that coming, adding, “but we cannot exclude the possibility.”

In his earlier remarks at the Munich Security Conference, Zarif had accused Israel of looking for war and warned that its actions and those of the United States were increasing the chances of a clash in the region.

In an interview with NBC News during his visit to Munich, Zarif also warned the US and its allies that it would be “suicidal” to go to a war with Iran.

He said the “same gang” behind the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 were “at it again” in pushing for war with Iran.

“I’m not saying [US] President [Donald] Trump’s administration, I’m saying people in President Trump’s administration are trying to create the same eventually and I believe they will fail,” the Iranian foreign minister said.

“But I think at the end of the day, some sense will prevail and people will find out that it’s suicidal to engage in a war with Iran.”

On February 13, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a short video recorded on the sidelines of an anti-Iran meeting in Warsaw, Poland, that the event “is an open meeting with representatives of leading Arab countries that are sitting down together with Israel in order to advance the common interest of war with Iran.”

Last month, Netanyahu had threatened that Tel Aviv complements the US’ economic pressures on Iran with its own actions “at the military level.”

Trump “is acting against Iran at the economic level and we here in Israel are acting against Iran at the military level,” Netanyahu said in an address to Israeli military cadets.

By military actions, Netanyahu apparently meant airstrikes against what Israel calls Iranian positions in Syria. Damascus says the attacks are part of Israel’s efforts to prop up terrorists in the face of army advances.

Netanyahu says the Tel Aviv regime’s forces have carried out hundreds of attacks in Syria over the past several years and will ramp up its fight following the planned withdrawal of US troops from the country.

His comments came after Trump said in January Iran “can do what they want” in Syria following his decision to withdraw US troops operating there, a move that sparked consternation in Israel.

“Iran is no longer the same country,” Trump said. “Iran is pulling people out of Syria. They can do what they want there, frankly, but they’re pulling people out. They’re pulling people out of Yemen. Iran wants to survive now,” he claimed.

Iran has been offering advisory military assistance to the Syrian government in its counter-terrorism battle at the request of Damascus.

The US, Israel, France, Britain and their regional allies such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey and Qatar, instead, have been sponsoring terrorists in Syria since 2011 which has left the Arab country in ruins.