Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Moscow on Monday to discuss Israeli concerns about any expansion of Iran's military foothold inSyriawith Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I will discuss with President Putin Iran's relentless efforts to establish a military presence inSyria, which we strongly oppose and are also taking action against," said Netanyahu, without elaborating, before boarding a plane for the visit, scheduled to last several hours.

Israel's air force said last year it had struck suspected arms shipments to Iran's ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, around 100 times.

Netanyahu said he and Putin "meet periodically in order to ensure the military coordination between the Israel Defense Forces and the Russian forces inSyria".

Russia intervened in the civil war on behalf ofSyrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2015. Iranian forces, Hezbollah and other Shi‘ite Muslim militias also back Assad.

Israel fears Iran could be left with a permanent garrison inSyria, extending a threat posed from neighbouring Lebanon by Hezbollah, which has an extensive missile arsenal and last fought a war with the Israeli military in 2006.

Netanyahu said he also planned to discuss with Putin "Iran's effort to turn Lebanon into one giant missile site, a site for precision missiles against the State of Israel, which we will not tolerate".

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