Israel calls for UN action on Iran over Syria bomb planting

Israel has urged the United Nations to take action against Iran's military deployment in Syria, following the discovery of explosive devices that were allegedly planted in the Golan region by Tehran-backed militias. Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan informed the Security Council that it had retaliated against Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria after the discovery this month of improvised explosive devices, which it accused Iran's foreign military Quds Force of planting. "The Syrian regime continues to allow Iran and its proxies to use its territory, including military facilities and infrastructure, to entrench its presence in Syria and undermine efforts to maintain stability in the region," Mr Erdan wrote in a letter to the council this week. Israel, which sees Iran as its top security threat , has repeatedly hit Iranian targets and those of its proxy forces in Syria, where Tehran has backed President Bashar Al Assad and his forces against rebels and militants since 2012. Addressing a council meeting on Syria on Wednesday, the UN's deputy peace envoy to Syria Khawla Mattar described a "fragile and relative calm" in recent months despite ongoing flare-ups between the many forces fighting in the country, particularly in the northwest. Ramesh Rajasingham, a senior UN relief official, warned that cold winter months and Syria's currency crisis has left about 9.3 million people facing food shortages , more than any other time since the country was plunged into the multi-front civil war. "As the weather gets colder over the coming weeks, and with continued fuel shortages, we expect people will, as they did last year, resort to burning anything they can find to try and keep themselves and their children warm," said Mr Rajasingham. Iran was set to address the council later on Wednesday.

Israel calls for UN action on Iran over Syria bomb planting

Israel informed the UN Security Council that it had retaliated against Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria