TIMES OF ISRAEL
South Syria truce seeks to allay Israel, Jordan fears about Iran
by Karen Laub
July 8, 2017

A separate truce for southern Syria, brokered by the US and Russia, is meant to help allay growing concerns by neighboring Israel and Jordan about Iranian military ambitions in the area, including fears that Tehran plans to set up a disruptive long-term presence there. Such apprehensions were stoked by recent movements of Shiite Muslim militias — loyal to Iran and fighting alongside Syrian government forces — toward Jordan’s border with Syria, and to another strategic area in the southeast, close to where the two countries meet Iraq. The advances are part of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s push to regain territory from rebel groups, some backed by the West, in the southern Daraa province, and from Islamic State extremists in the southeast, near the triangle with Iraq. READ MORE

TIMES OF ISRAEL Israel, Jordan part of new, developing US-Russia deal on Syria ceasefire