The head of Iran’s National Security Council said on Tuesday that Tehran and Moscow are sharing facilities to fight against terrorism, after Russian Federation confirmed that its long-range bombers based in Iran had struck targets inside Syria.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it too had documented the use of thermite – a type of incendiary substance – by Russian planes in Idlib, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor provinces, and Raqa.
The Observatory – which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information – says it determines what planes carried out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved.
Moscow has so far used warplanes stationed at its Hmeimim airbase outside the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, as well as ships in the Caspian Sea and a submarine in the Mediterranean, to bombard Syrian territory.
Reports indicate that up to six Tupolev Tu-22M3 bombers – known by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation codename of “Backfire” – are now operating from an air base in western Iran.
Iranian Defence Minister General Hossein Dehghan said he and his counterparts from Russian Federation and Syria were determined to deliver a “decisive” battle against “all terrorist groups”.
An worldwide rights group says the joint Syrian government and Russian military operation has been using incendiary weapons in civilian areas in northern Syria in violation of global law.
Soaring above the skies of Syria, these are the Russian bombers dropping deadly bombs against militants in the first missions to have taken off from Iran.
The destroyed facilities had all been used to support militants in the Aleppo area, it said, where battle for control of the divided city, which had some 2 million people before the war, has intensified in recent weeks.
These planes – originally designed as a long-range strategic bomber – have already been engaged in the Syrian air campaign but operating from bases in southern Russian Federation.
Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria also have set up a joint center in Baghdad with the goal of coordinating the campaign against ISIS.
A top Russian lawmaker, Adm. Vladimir Komoyedov, said Russia’s decision to use a base in Iran will help to cut costs, which is “paramount right now”.
Iran’s constitution, ratified after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, bans the establishment of any foreign military base in the country.
In a letter to HRW in November, Russia acknowledged that “improper use” of incendiary weapons had resulted in “significant humanitarian damage” in Syria.
“Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 frontline bombers took off with full bomb loads from their home airfield of Hamadan (Iran), and carried out an air strike against the Islamic State and Nusra Front terrorist groups’ targets in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib”, Xinhua news agency reported.
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Russian Federation and Iran have been expanding their ties in the past months after most of the sanctions against Iran were lifted following the nuclear deal with world powers.
