RFERL:

The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps says Iran will retain its military presence in Syria, defying Israeli threats that Iranian forces will be targeted if they do not leave the war-torn country.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will keep its military advisers, revolutionary forces, and its weapons in Syria," Iranian media quoted Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying on January 16.

The comments come days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country was "more determined than everto act against Iran in Syria."

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on January 13, Netanyahu also said that Israel had succeeded in “curbing Iran's military entrenchment in Syria” by attacking Iranian and Hizballah targets there "hundreds” of times."

Jafari called Netanyahu's threats "a joke" and warned that the Israeli government "was playing with [a] lion's tail."

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