For now, Russia is done using an Iranian air base to launch airstrikes against targets in Syria, Russia’s defense ministry and Iran’s official state news agency reported Monday.
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Stephen O’Brien says Aleppo is being bombed every day, including a dozen new attacks Monday, and has become “the apex of horror” in “the greatest crisis of our time”.
Russia’s boasting took the western countries by surprise as it is the first time a foreign power has used Iran’s military facilities, since the Second World War.
The about-face and the explanation for it from Iran’s foreign and defense ministries appeared to reflect deep-seated and long-standing suspicions of Russian Federation despite their tactical alliance in the Syria war.
Iranian parliamentarians criticized the move as illegal under Iranian law.
Iran’s constitution does not approve of letting foreign powers use Iranian military facilities.
Gen Deghan was asked why Russian Federation had chosen to reveal its presence there whereas Iran had not. “They did this (operation) and it is finished for now”, Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
Last year, Russian Federation said it had gotten permission beforehand from Iraq and Iran to use their airspace, but didn’t announce that ahead of the launch. The raids were the first carried by Russian Federation from a third country since it began an air campaign to support Syrian President Bashar al Assad nearly a year ago, and also the first launched from Iranian soil by a foreign military since World War Two. Dzhagaryan said, however, that he does “not see any reason” why the Russians can’t use the Iranian base again. The government and the Kurdish movement have shared control of the city since the early years of the Syrian civil war.
Further use of the base by Russian warplanes will be done in accordance with bilateral agreements with Iran and depend on the situation in Syria, he added.
Iran has been sending military advisors to Syria to help the country’s military forces with the fight against terrorists through their knowhow and consultation.
After some delay, Russian Federation supplied Iran with its S-300 missile air defense system, evidence of a growing partnership that is testing USA influence in the Middle East.
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Meanwhile, fighting continued Monday in Syria. Dehghan believes the Russians did this because they wanted to show they are a military superpower and they wanted to use it as leverage in negotiations with the United States in order to secure their influence over the political future of Syria.
