Russia’s Defence Ministry said that Su-34 warplanes took off from the Iranian airbase and conducted an airstrike against Islamic State targets in the Syrian province of Deir al-Zour.
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Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, told reporters that it’s still unclear whether Russia’s use of the Iranian base was a “one off thing” or the start of a new campaign.
It is thought to be the first time Russian Federation has struck targets inside Syria from Iran since it launched a bombing campaign to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September past year.
Resolution 2231 stipulates that the Security Council must sign off on any direct or indirect transfer “to Iran, or for the use in or benefit of Iran, of any battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems”.
Russian Federation backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States believes the Syrian leader must step down and is supporting rebel groups that are fighting to unseat him.
“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”.
By allowing foreign troops on its soil for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution – and Russians for the first time since World War II – Iran may be seeking to show it can end its isolation with or without the United States, analysts said.
The airbase, in Iran’s western Hamadan region, is much closer to ISIL targets than the Khmeimim airbase, which Russian Federation had previously been using, in coastal northern Syria.
Russian Federation first announced the strikes on Tuesday from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
“If they [the Russians] were concerned about ISIS, they would not be bombing in the region of Aleppo”, he said, using the alternative name for Daesh.
“The deployment of Russian jets in the Martyr Nojeh air base should be considered in the light of Article 146 of the Constitution…”, said Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of the national security committee of the parliament.
“In Aleppo we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in the over five years of bloodshed and suffering in the Syrian conflict”, Ban told the UN Security Council in his latest monthly report on aid access, seen by Reuters.
Lavrov said the talks were focused on specific mechanisms to implement agreements reached during a visit by U.S. State Secretary John Kerry to Moscow last month.
The United States said it was still assessing the extent of Russian-Iranian cooperation but described the new development as “unfortunate”.
“All Russian planes coped with their tasks and returned to base”, the Defense Ministry said.
Russian aircraft began flying missions out of Iran on Tuesday, in a surprise move that cements the two countries’ de-facto military alliance in Syria.
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“We have good cooperation with Russian Federation and we say it loud and clear”, he added.
