REPORT: USA TO LET IRANIAN-BACKED FIGHTERS WITHIN 10 KM OF GOLAN HEIGHTS: USA officials have agreed to let Iranian-backed fighters take up positions in Syria less than ten kilometers from the Israeli Golan Heights. Russian media claims that Moscow has ignored pleas from Israel to prevent Iran from exploiting Syria’s ongoing civil war to expand its military influence into Syrian territory. Citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources, the report said a USA team that was holding talks with their Russian counterparts in Amman, Jordan, to discuss the nationality of observer forces overseeing a July 2017 truce, backed down on some of their initial demands. The report said the USA agreed that Iranian-backed militias could be positioned as close as 8-16 kilometers (five to ten miles) from the Jordanian border and the Golan Heights, less than half the originally sought 32 kilometers (20 miles) distance. In July 2017 the Times of London reported that Israel was pushing Russia and the USA for an agreement that would prevent “Hezbollah or other Iranian-backed militias” from operating in the area, which would extend some 30 miles (48 kilometers) beyond the Israeli-Syrian border on the Golan Heights. Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group that acts as a proxy of Iran, has been fighting on behalf of the Syrian President BasharAssad in his efforts to suppress a six-year long insurgency. Russia, an ally of both Syria and Iran, has also provided military assistance in the war. The USA negotiators also agreed to let Russian observers police the truce zones, angering other USA officials and allies of America. In particular, Israeli officials are concerned that the Russian presence could limit its operations against targets in Syria, the report said. (Times of Israel) Continue to intercede that the escalating gathering of hostile forces in Syria - endangering Israel – will be contained and controlled.