Later in the day, the State Department said Washington will examine if the use of the Iranian airbase violates United Nations resolutions.
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The ministry says its jets took off earlier in the day on Wednesday from a base southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran, to strike targets in the east of Syria.
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 a year ago.
“There are no grounds to suspect Russian Federation of breaching the resolution”, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference in Moscow.
Both Russia and the Iran-backed regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have violated global law by dropping incendiary bombs over civilian areas in Syria in recent weeks, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov escalated the war of words, denying that operating from Iran violated the resolution.
At the same time the chairman of Iran’s parliament Ali Larijani stressed that Russian Federation does not have a permanent military base within the Islamic Republic.
Russia’s use of an Iranian base heralds even more intense Russian bombardment inside Syria, where Moscow has already been accused of indiscriminate attacks that have killed many civilians.
“Moreover, we again advise the State Department representatives to take a pencil to the map and discover for themselves that Syria is an independent sovereign state”, the general added.
The strikes destroyed jihadist targets, including weapons depots and command centres, “killing a large number of fighters”, Moscow said. On Wednesday, August 17 Sukhoi-34 bombers again used the airdrome in Iran to bomb IS positions in Deir ez-Zor province. First it was the Americans, then the Russians and now the Iranians.
The comments by Ali Larijani, reported on Wednesday by the state-run IRNA news agency, seem geared at easing domestic concerns over the strikes.
In the same context, a reliable Russian military source said that setting up a Russian military base in Iran will permit targeting the sites quickly, adding that Russian airstrikes foiled an attack by fighters near Aleppo.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter and National Intelligence Director James Clapper each voiced strong reservations about entering into such an alliance, given the administration’s repeated criticism that the Russians have primarily targeted moderate anti-Assad rebels and not IS.
Russian Federation on Wednesday launched a second wave of airstrikes in Syria from a base in Iran, underlining its intensification of an air war in the country.
Russian defence officials rubbished the suggestion on Wednesday, saying U.S. official should brush up on the wording of the resolution.
The US, however, credited Moscow with having given it a brief advance warning on the likely strike from Iranian bases.
The State Department on Tuesday called the move “not helpful”.
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“The United States should take a look at itself – USA aircraft carriers and military bases are present everywhere”, Ivashov said.
