Russian Federation sent Sukhoi Su-34 jets from the Hamedan base in western Iran on Wednesday morning to carry out a second group wave of aerial strikes against IS targets in Deir Ezzor province, the defense ministry said, calling the operation a success.
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The spokesman for the USA -led military coalition against ISIS said on Tuesday that Russia’s strikes from Iran came with little advance notice to the US, which is also flying missions in Syria.
Moscow said several SU 34 fighter bombers flew out of Iran’s Shahid Nojeh Air Base, 130 miles west of Tehran, to strike Islamic State (Isil) positions near Dier Ezzor in eastern Syria on Wednesday morning.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday (17 August) told Russia’s state news agency TASS that “No supplying, selling or transferring of warplanes to Iran has occurred”.
“These aircraft are being used by Russia’s air force with Iran’s agreement as a part of an anti-terrorist operation at the request of Syria’s leadership”, Lavrov insisted at a Moscow press conference, as quoted by Reuters.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Russia’s continued use of the Iranian base to strike Syrian targets “doesn’t help” to reach a cessation of hostilities in the country’s civil war between government forces and militants.
Tuesday’s action suggests cooperation on the highest levels between Moscow and Tehran, both key allies of the embattled Syrian president, and sends a powerful message to the United States and the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf, which have seen Iran as the arch-enemy.
Chris Harmer, senior naval analyst for the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, said the basing of Russian planes in Iran represents a doubling down of support for the Syrian president by Tehran and Moscow.
The bombers previously have flown from their base in Mozdok in southern Russian Federation, and had to cover more than 2,000 kilometers to reach targets in Syria. That should save Russian budget money and increase airstrike effectiveness at the same time.
As a result of the strike, more than 150 militants including foreign mercenaries were killed.
Army Col. Chris Garver said Russian Federation notified the US through a deconfliction channel that it planned to fly from Iran through Iraq to strike targets in Syria and then go back.
“We haven’t made an assessment, we’re looking at it”, Mr. Toner said, “It does require a very detailed, legal analysis [as to] whether there was a violation”.
The Russian Defense Ministry released special footage of its aircraft operating from Iran and bombing targets in Syria.
For the second day in a row, Russian warplanes launched from an airbase in Iran to attack rebel targets in Syria.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament Ali Larijani also stressed Wednesday that Iran has not given Russian Federation a permanent base in its territory.
He told a parliamentary session: “We have not given a military base to anyone”.
Col. Christopher Garver, a USA military spokesman in Baghdad, told reporters at the Pentagon that the Russians activated a communications link with coalition officials just ahead of the first bomber mission on Tuesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry says its warplanes have launched a new wave of airstrikes on Islamic State fighters in Syria.
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He said that “under the resolution, the UN Security Council sanctions deliveries, sales and transfers of specific types of arms to Iran, including combat aircraft”, while the Russian deployment involves no such moves.
