The US State Department confirmed Saturday that Washington "is concerned about the escalation of violence on the borders of Israel and strongly supports the right of Tel Aviv to defend itself." The announcement came after a busy day of events witnessed the fall of an Israeli fighter with a Syrian missile, and launched the Hebrew state of raids in Syria and dropped by a march plane said it was Iranian.
The United States on Saturday announced its support for Israel after Israeli air strikes in Syria targeting military positions it said were Syrian and Iranian.
Israel has earlier launched a series of air raids in Syria on the objectives of Syria and Iran in response to the penetration of an Iranian drone fired from Syria airspace, according to the Israeli army, but Tehran denied the incident.
"The allegations of an Iranian plane flying are very ridiculous," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi said. "Israeli leaders are resorting to lies against other countries to cover up their crimes in the region."
Israeli air strikes followed the downing of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet with a Syrian anti-aircraft missile that crashed into Israeli territory.
"The United States is very concerned about the escalation of violence on Israel's borders and strongly supports Israel's sovereign right to defend itself," US State Department spokeswoman Heather Naort said in a statement.
"The calculated escalation of the Iranian threat, in addition to its ambition to extend its authority and dominance, expose all the peoples of the region to danger and in Yemen and Lebanon."
This is the first time that the Israeli army has declared that it has bombed Iranian targets since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011. In recent years, Israel has launched repeated air strikes on positions of the Syrian regime and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Netanyahu threatens Iran!
For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that his country would not allow Iran to "consolidate" its military presence in Syria, after Israel launched air strikes said it had longed Iranian targets in Syria.
"Israel wants peace but we will continue to defend ourselves with determination against any aggression against us and against any attempt by Iran to establish its military presence in Syria or anywhere else," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu is still warning what he sees as an expansion of the Iranian presence, especially in Syria, which borders the Jewish state.
"Israel holds Iran and its Syrian hosts responsible for today's aggression," Netanyahu said. "We will continue to do whatever is necessary to defend our sovereignty and our security."
He said he had telephoned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the main supporter of the Syrian regime, and with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on recent developments.
