LONDON- The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday that they will retain their military presence in Syria, defying Israeli threats that they might be targeted if they do not leave the country.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran will keep its military advisors, revolutionary forces and its weapons in Syria," the top commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin; editing by John Stonestreet) ((bozorgmehr.sharafedin@thomsonreuters.com;))