Israel warned the Syrian regime on Friday to “get rid of the Iranians” or else risk further large scale Israeli airstrikes against Iran’s forces in Syrian territory.

A day after Israel launched “Operation House of Cards” - sending warplanes to hit 70 targets across Syria in response to what it said was an Iranian rocket attack on the Golan Heights - Israeli defence minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a message to Damascus.

“They are not helping you, they only cause damage, and their presence will only cause problems and damages,” Mr Lieberman said during a tour of the Golan. “Get rid of the Iranians and maybe it will be possible to have a different kind of life.”

Iran meanwhile denied that its forces were behind the rocket attack early on Thursday morning and said Israel had launched the airstrikes into Syria based on “fabricated and baseless excuses”.

The spike in violence between Iran and Israel across the Golan came as Tehran prepares to mount a complicated diplomatic offensive to try to salvage the Iran nuclear deal in the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw.

Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, will leave today (SAT) on a worldwide trip to Beijing, Moscow and Brussels to meet with the remaining members of the nuclear agreement and urge them not to give in to US pressure to halt trade with Iran.