Trump and Putin discussed Iran at their Helsinki summit. Below is another excerpt, this time from (!!) Breitbart. Don’t judge me.
Fast-forward to the press conference on Monday. Putin, who spoke first, said that the U.S. and Russia had agreed on a new course of action in Syria: “The south of Syria should be brought to the full compliance with the treaty of 1974, about the separation of forces — about separation of forces of Israel and Syria. This will bring peace to Golan Heights, and bring [a] more peaceful relationship between Syria and Israel, and also to provide security of the state of Israel.” Trump also referred to the agreement in his remarks at the press conference, and suggested that both the U.S. and Russia had agreed with the Israeli position on the issue.
Most of the Beltway journalists at the press conference were too busy asking about the 2016 election to ask about either Iran or Syria. But the Israeli media noticed — and so, too, did Yaroslav Trofimov, the Wall Street Journal‘s Middle East columnist, who reported that Putin had granted Israel’s request. While it was not clear whether the two leaders had agreed to push Iranian troops out of Syria, it is clear, as Glick observes, that Iranian troops cannot operate within Syria without the help of Russian air cover.