Russian FM: Demand for Iranian withdrawal from Syria ‘unrealistic’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that Iran is one of the key powers in the Middle East, and added that demands for the Islamic Republic to completely pull out of Syria at the conclusion of the civil war in that country would be "absolutely unrealistic. "(You cannot expect Iran) to expect it to abandon its interests," Lavrov said. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman as well as opposition leaders including Yesh Atid Party Chairman Yair Lapid have said that Israel would not reconcile itself to a long-term Iranian presence in Syria. Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Russian Prime Minsiter Vladimir Putin next week, ahead of the latter's summit the following week with US President Donald Trump, where the situation in southern Syria is expected to be on the agenda.