A military partnership between Russian Federation and Iran would have the potential to solidify Russia’s foothold in the region, and shift the balance of power across the Middle East. The group, also known as the White Helmets, which operates in opposition-held areas, blamed the attack on government jets.
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Russian Federation also became the first foreign military power to operate from Iran’s soil since World War II after a fleet of TU-22 long-range bombers bound for Syria flew out from the Iranian air base.
“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 told a Moscow news conference, after holding talks with New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully.
The Russian move provides a psychological boost for the Assad-Iran-Hezbollah alliance, illustrating that Russia is strategically committed to stay on course in Syria. The bombing runs from a base near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 175 miles southwest of Tehran, may have been a reminder to the Obama administration that Moscow could be cozying up to Iran if Washington doesn’t come around.
Russian Federation was one of six countries that negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran past year that gave it sanctions relief in exchange for new curbs on its nuclear program.
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.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, confirms the strike.
Russia is trying to coordinate with the U.S. in Syria and has denied any violation of United Nations resolutions in its use of an Iran air base, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.
He specified that the jets were using the Nojeh airbase in Iran’s western Hamadan province to refuel.
The minister also called on the USA not to “nitpick about what is happening in terms of the remaining restrictions on trade and ties with Iran”. “It’s not just Russian planes touching down in Iran”. On Wednesday, Russia’s Sukhoi-34 bombers took off from the airdrome in Iran to hit Islamic State targets in Deir ez-Zor Province.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed today’s strikes had destroyed two ISIS “command posts” and killed over 150 ISIS fighters.
Iran allowed Russian warplanes to take off from its territory to bomb targets in Syria on Tuesday, an unprecedented move that underscores the deepening cooperation between two powerhouses heavily invested in the Syrian civil war.
State television announced “12 martyrs including a child and several wounded after terrorists shelled the Salaheddin” district in the city’s regime-controlled west.
Other Iranian ” The approach toward the East does necessitate some components, including having strategic relations with countries such as Russian Federation and China”, Ali Abar Velayati noted. officials, including SNSC Secretary Ali Shamkhani, have backed the decision, seeing it as an indication of a strategic alliance between Tehran and Moscow. On Tuesday, almost 20 civilians were reported killed in airstrikes in eastern districts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and its former commercial center which has become the focal point of the country’s ruinous civil war.
This update has been corrected to say 20 civilians were reported killed on Tuesday, not Friday.
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“We believe that we have the authorization, the legal authority rather, to use military force against ISIL in Iraq and in Syria”, he told reporters, using a different name for ISIS. His comments were geared at easing domestic concerns over the strikes.
