The Russian ministry’s statement said Su-34 and Tu-22M3 bombers took off earlier in the day to target Islamic State and the Nusra Front militants in Aleppo, as well as in Deir el-Zour and Idlib provinces, destroying five major ammunition depots, training camps and three command posts. “It’s not a lot of time, but it’s enough” to maintain safety in the airspace over Iraq and Syria, he said.
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“It’s all hands on deck to get the upper hand in that battle space”, a USA counterterrorism official said on condition of anonymity.
Still, there are questions as to whether the Russian planes in Iran were just part of a rotational force that will be based at Hamedan briefly or part of a more permanent deployment that could alter the balance of power in the region.
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city before the war, is divided into rebel and government-held zones.
The growing pro-Moscow alliance got a big boost Tuesday after Iran allowed Russian Federation to fly its bombers from one of its bases to attack rebels in Syria.
The bombers had been flying missions from Russian Federation, a trip that will now be 1600 kilometres shorter, officials said. Its list of targets echoed those put out daily by the US military since it began bombing ISIS rebels two years ago. In less than a year, Russian Federation has gone from a very limited military presence in the Middle East to having the use of two airbases and emerging as a major military power in the fractured region.
The United States had been targeting Islamic State militants in Syria with air strikes for almost two years.
Iran’s constitution, ratified after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, bans the establishment of any foreign military base in the country.
Russian Federation also gave advanced notice to the USA -led coalition battling Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, complying with the terms of a safety agreement meant to avoid an accidental clash in the skies, the US military said.
Russia’s use of an Iranian air base to carry out military strikes in Syria is “unfortunate but not surprising”, a U.S. State Department official meanwhile said on Tuesday, adding Washington is still assessing the extent of Russian-Iranian cooperation.
Garver says the Russian bomber flights did not affect USA coalition air operations. “Since it is obvious that Western countries have no interest nor are they willing to resolve the Syrian crisis, Russia, Iran and Turkey are seen as the main actors in potentially ending the conflict in Syria”, analyst and journalist on Eurasian affairs, Eşref Yalınkılıçlı, said. In addition to establishing the Hmeymim airbase and providing troops and air power to the government’s war effort, Russian Federation has deployed an S-400 anti-aircraft system to Syria.
“Moscow is once again flexing its military muscle, in bold and unexpected directions outside its immediate neighborhood-this time from Iran”, said David Barno, a retired Army lieutenant general who commanded all USA and allied troops in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. Russian Federation and Iran share similar goals in Syria and the two countries are part of the same coalition fighting ISIL. The attacks, concentrated in and around the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, killed dozens, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor.
UNITED NATIONS United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday of an unprecedented “humanitarian catastrophe” in Syria’s Aleppo and urged Russian Federation and the United States to quickly reach a deal on a ceasefire in the city and elsewhere in the country.
While flying the warplanes from Hamedan allows Russian Federation to pack a heavier punch in striking the militants’ positions, the same job could have been accomplished by flying from the central Syrian air base at Hmeimeem or by increasing the number of bombers flying from Russian Federation. The Russian Defence Ministry said it takes great care to avoid civilian casualties in its air strikes.
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A report in December by the American Enterprise Institute, based off satellite imagery, suggests the air base saw a Russian Su-34 “Fullback” strike fighter land there in late November. However, nothing bars Iranian officials from allowing foreign countries to use an airfield.
