Earlier this week, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said his country and the United States were “currently in a very active stage of negotiations” to begin joint military action in Syria against Daesh.
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“By strengthening their influence and their role in the Middle East, they do two things”, analyst Martin Reardon of the Soufan Group – a NY organization that provides strategic security intelligence services to governments and multinational organizations – said of the Kremlin leaders.
Tehran, in addition to the joint support for Assad, has seen strategic advantage in relations with post-Soviet Russia, sharing a desire to counter USA influence with increased trade and energy cooperation.
The head of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said on Wednesday Russia was using the airbase in Iran only for refueling its bombers.
The long-range Tu-22 bombers launched raids in Syria’s Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, and Idlib provinces in support of Syrian President Assad, in an attempt to fight terrorist groups that now control part of the country.
“As a result of the strikes five large arms depots were destroyed … a militant training camp … three command and control points … and a significant number of militants”, the ministry said in a statement.
The Russian Defense Ministry says it takes great care to avoid civilian casualties in its air strikes. Tehran, which contends IS has been aiming at Iran in recent months, said its forces killed three people linked to IS in a border city Tuesday.
It could not confirm whether those airstrikes were carried out by Russian or by Syrian government forces, which also carry out regular airstrikes and have less accurate targeting abilities than Russia.
Both Russia and Iran have long supported the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but never before have Russian forces been based in Iran.
US officials said the setup at the Iranian air base occurred very quickly, perhaps overnight. Russian Federation has carried out strikes in support of government troops there, activists say.
Syria has been gripped by a foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
It said the deployment would allow the Russian air force to cut flight times by 60 percent and increase bombing payloads. But as I said, it is a bigger story than just that. Russian Federation has grown impatient, with top officials several times suggesting an imminent deal, only to have American officials counter that the sides weren’t close.
Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer called Moscow’s transfer of heavy bomber planes to Iran a “major move”. Later, Iran’s proxy fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah joined in the ground battles, especially in the suburbs of Damascus.
Iran allowing Russian warplanes to take off from its territory to bomb targets in Syria was an unprecedented move, underscoring the deepening cooperation between two powerhouses heavily invested in the Syrian civil war. Their presence created an uneasy détente, with the US and Western allies conducting separate air raids against IS targets. US officials said no agreement was close.
“They did not impact coalition operations in either Iraq or Syria during the time”, United States military spokesman Colonel Chris Garver told journalists. “They informed us they were coming through”.
The deployment in Iran comes a day after Russia’s defense minister said Washington and Moscow were near agreement on the proposed military partnership. Toner said those talks continued despite stepped up Russian-Iranian cooperation. The deal included training to face the rebels and the waiting of the S-300 air-defense missile system that Iran had ordered in 2007.
‘Clear message’ to U.S. It is unclear how long Russian planes have been at the Iranian air base. “Cooperation between Tehran and Moscow against terrorism in Syria is of a strategic character”.
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USA officials say the setup at the Iranian air base used by Russian bombers to strike militants in Syria was established very quickly, perhaps overnight. “But due to unknown reasons, it was rejected until this July”. It needs a bigger air field than Russian Federation already has in Syria. In December, the American Enterprise Institute said in a report based on satellite imagery that a Russian Su-34 “Fullback” strike fighter landed there in late November. “But it’s hard to believe that shortening the distance is the only reason”.
