The resolution bans the supply, sale or transfer of combat aircraft to Iran unless approved in advance by the UN Security Council.
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He finished off with a personal jab at State Department spokesman Mark Toner: “We are sure that, once Mr. Mark Toner passed [this] exam, he would not think of the destruction of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists by Russian warplanes was ‘unfortunate'”.
Secretary of State John Kerry phoned his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after the first strikes Tuesday to express US concerns and also to try again to get Russia to use its influence with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to arrange a ceasefire that would ease the siege of Aleppo.
The escalation of foreign forces fighting in the five-year long civil war comes a year after Russian Federation stationed aircraft inside Syria at an air base close to the Turkish border.
Moscow brushed off American suggestions that its deployment of military aircraft to Iran violates a United Nations arms embargo yesterday (Wednesday), as Russian jets flew missions out of an Iranian base for a second consecutive day.
“It is quite surprising for the (Gulf) states because here we have the Kremlin and the Iranian leadership agreeing on allowing Moscow to use Iran as a forward-operating base”, Karasik said. “These weapons inflict frightful injuries and excruciating pain, so all countries should condemn their use in civilian areas”. It is virtually unheard of in recent Iranian history for a foreign power to use an Iranian base to stage attacks.
Former Iranian foreign minister and adviser to Supreme leader Ali Khamenei Ali Akbar Velayati said that the current military cooperation between Iran and Russian Federation falls under the new Iranian vision of the East.
“The Russians are showing they have options in Syria while they have Washington over a barrel on Aleppo”, said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, A Russian Tu-22M3 bomber stands on the tarmac at an air base near Hamedan, Iran.
Amid the fighting, Russian Federation and the United States are trying to secure a ceasefire and in discussions on cooperating more closely against recognized terrorist groups.
The setup at the Iranian air base occurred very quickly, perhaps overnight, said United States officials, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly on military matters and requested anonymity.
“That cooperation does not mean that we have allocated our military base to Russian Federation”.
Russia’s decision to launch raids from Iran puts it firmly in the camp of Shiite forces in the Mideast, Rubin said, something Moscow may not realize carries long-term consequences.
The Iranian deployment will boost Russia’s image as a central player in the Middle East and allow the Russian Air Force to cut flight times and increase bombing payloads.
The text prohibits the use of combat aircraft “for the use in or benefit of Iran”.
As a result of the strike, more than 150 militants including foreign mercenaries were killed.
In the regular State Department briefing Wednesday, Toner said that the Russian airstrikes out of Iran “continue to hit civilian populations”.
The bombardment came as regime forces fight rebels and militants southwest of the battleground city after opposition fighters gained ground there earlier this month, the Observatory said.
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Russian planes also flew out of Hamadan on Tuesday.
