Can act against tyrant Iran: Netanyahu

Munich, February 18 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran over aggressions by what he called Iran and its “proxies” in Syria, while showing what he claimed was a piece of an Iranian drone shot down in Israeli airspace.

Saying he had “a message to the tyrants of Tehran” during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, he warned: “Do not test Israel’s resolve”. He brandished a rectangular piece of dark green metal which he called “a piece of that Iranian drone, or whats left of it, after we shot it down.” 

Israel has said it shot down the drone on February 10 after it entered the country from Syria, and responded with a raid on what it said was the Iranian control systems for the craft in Syria.

During the strikes, Israel’s F-16 fighter jet was shot down, believed to be the first loss of an Israeli plane in combat since 1982.

Israel’s response marked the first time it publicly acknowledged hitting Iranian targets in Syria since the 2011 start of the civil war there.

Calling Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif the “smooth-talking mouthpiece of Irans regime,” Netanyahu said: “Mr Zarif, do you recognise this? You should, its yours.” Again referring to Zarif, who is expected to speak later in Munich, the Israeli leader said: “No doubt Mr Zarif will brazenly deny Iran’s involvement in Syria.” “He lies with eloquence.”  The Israeli military has claimed the drone was a copy of a US model captured by Iran in 2011, based on an analysis of the drones debris.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu  offered his condolences over the 66 people killed in an Iranian plane crash, just moments after he launched a blistering attack on Tehran's government. "I take this opportunity to send condolences to the families of the 66 civilians that lost their lives in the plane accident today," Netanyahu said.   "We have no quarrel with the people of Iran, only with the regime that torments them," he added. — AFP 

Israel’s ‘myth of invincibility’ has crumbled: Iran 

Munich: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday the shooting down of an Israeli jet after it bombed an Iranian site in Syria had shattered Israel’s so-called “invincibility”. “Israel uses aggression as a policy against its neighbours,” Zarif told the Munich Security Conference, accusing Israel of “mass reprisals against its neighbours and daily incursions into Syria, Lebanon.” He was responding to Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the conference hours before. “What has happened in the past several days is the so-called invincibility (of Israel) has crumbled,” Zarif said of Netanyahu's remarks, which followed the February 10 downing of an Israeli F-16 jet from anti-aircraft fire on Iran-backed positions in Syria.