On Tuesday, Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers conducted the first airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS/ISIL) targets in Syria flying from the Iranian airbase.
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Iran on Tuesday allowed Russian warplanes to take off from its territory to bomb targets in Syria – the first such occasion since Russia launched its operation in the war-torn Arab nation previous year.
U.S. State Department spokesman, Mark Toner had on Tuesday said Russian Federation might be violating the resolution by using Iranian territory to launch airstrikes in Syria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed suggestions that Russia’s actions were violating U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which prohibits selling or transferring combat aircraft to Iran.
Russian Federation now maintains Su-24s, Su-25s, and Su-30s at the airbase, which is controlled by Bashar al-Assad regime of Syria, along with Mi-24 attack helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the “Arab Spring” uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.
The closer cooperation serves both to target opponents of Mr. Assad – some of them backed by the United States – while also sending a sharp message to the U.S. as fighting over the divided city of Aleppo reaches a critical point after five years of inconclusive civil war.
That history will likely make any long-term Russian use of Iranian military bases unpalatable to the Iranian public, said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official who is now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Iran has flown supply and other missions over Iraq to Syria without permission.
Defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov suggested that Washington needed to brush up on the specifics of the resolution.
The minister also called on the US not to “nitpick about what is happening in terms of the remaining restrictions on trade and ties with Iran”.
Russian Federation also gave advance notice to the U.S. -led coalition battling ISIL in Syria and Iraq, complying with the terms of a safety agreement meant to avoid an accidental clash in the skies, said U.S. Army Col. Christopher Garver, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S. -led coalition.
Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. Christopher Garver told reporters on Tuesday the US-led coalition against the Daesh has received information ahead of time about planned Russian flights in Syria initiated from an air base in Iran. In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber stands on the tarmac while another plane lands at an air base near Hamedan, Iran.
According to defense consultancy IHS Jane’s, Moscow made use of the Syrian base due to expansion work at Mozdok airbase in southern Russian Federation, from where long-range bombers had been flying their Syria raids.
Russian Federation said its planes targeted Islamic State militants and the al-Qaeda-linked group formerly known as the Nusra Front in Aleppo, as well as in Deir el-Zour and Idlib, destroying five major ammunition depots, training camps and three command posts.
The strikes have eliminated five major terrorist weapons depots and training compounds in the area as well as three command posts and a significant number of terrorists, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Following the announcement, the US State Department said it considers the Russian move unhelpful. It is located in an opposition-held part of contested Aleppo province.
The Head of Parliament’s National Security Committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, said operations had been authorised by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and are based on a deal between Iran, Russia, Syria and Iraq.
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Syria’s state-run news agency says seven civilians have been killed and nine wounded by rocket rounds fired by armed groups on a government-controlled district of the city of Aleppo.
