A Foreign Ministry statement on Sunday said in an emergency UN Security Council session the USA took “an unconstructive and indistinct position”.
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“Coalition forces believed they were striking a Daesh fighting position”, Central Command, known as Centcom, said in a statement yesterday, using an alternate term for the IS group. The agreement had been brokered by Russian Federation, which supports Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, and the USA, which supports the opposition forces.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency on Sunday quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying the move violated Syria’s sovereignty and “showed that terrorist groups enjoy USA support in Syria”.
Gen. Igor Konashenkov says he has been informed by Syrian authorities that at least 62 soldiers were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the attack in Deir al-Zour, according to The Associated Press.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says warplanes fired four missiles on Sunday.
The Pentagon said the US strike has unintentionally targeted the Syrian government forces.
The news comes as the United States halted its coalition airstrike against the militant group after it accidentally hit the Syrian military.
A United States military official told Reuters news agency the strike was carried out using USA intelligence, and added that the possible targets had been followed for days.
The Australian Ministry of Defence said this morning that it would fully cooperate with a coalition review of the incident.
The Observatory initially estimated that 83 Syrian soldiers were killed and 120 injured in the Saturday attack that sparked a row between Russian Federation, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the US.
The Syrian military said the airstrikes enabled an ISIS advance on a hill overlooking the air base.
“We must not forget that it is first of all the (Syrian) regime, and it is always the regime, which has jeopardized the US-Russian ceasefire”, said Ayrault in NY.
Samantha Power, US Ambassador to the UN, lashed out at Russian Federation for requesting an emergency UN Security Council meeting Saturday night, calling the request a “stunt”.
Yet significant drama played out outside the meeting, as both Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, and Russian diplomat Vitaly Churkin delivered dueling statements to the press.
Ms Power told reporters: “Even by Russia’s standards tonight’s stunt – a stunt replete with moralism and grandstanding – is uniquely cynical and hypocritical”. “The U.S. will continue to pursue compliance with the Cessation of Hostilities as we continue military action against ISIL and Al Qaida“.
When asked if the incident spelled the end of the Syria deal between Moscow and Washington, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: “This is a very big question mark”.
“[For example] who was meant to be advising whom, but I’m not going to get into the element of speculation”, he said. “If what Ambassador Power has done today is any indication of their possible reaction, then we are in serious trouble”.
The strike could deal a blow to a fragile USA and Russian-brokered cease-fire that has largely held for five days despite dozens of alleged violations on both sides.
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The front line remained quiet in divided second city Aleppo, but civilians have yet to see any aid deliveries – a key component of the truce deal.
