Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Wednesday refuted allegations that Tehran had permitted Russian Federation to use an airbase in its western Hamedan region to strike positions in Syria, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
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Su-34 tactical bombers took off from an air base in Hamedan, Iran, to strike Islamic State targets in the vicinity of Deir Ezzour, Russia’sDefense Ministry said.
Lavrov told journalists: “There are no reasons to suspect Russian Federation of violating Resolution 2231”. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
The strikes by Russian warplanes on Tuesday follows an announcement that Moscow and Washington are nearing an agreement on Syria that would help defuse the situation in the besieged northern city of Aleppo, SOHR said in a statement.
“Is there any UN Charter provision, UN Security Council resolution or a bilateral treaty between the U.S. and Syria authorizing bombing of the Syrian territory by attack UAVs of the US Air Force?”
He added that the USA government was continuing to assess whether the sanctions were violated and said John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, had discussed the matter with Mr Lavrov.
The U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner informed on the fact that Russian Federation uses Iranian airbase for Syria airstrikes, added this use of the Iranian airbase is “unfortunate, but not surprising or unexpected”.
This follows a move this week by Russian Federation to start using an Iranian airbase to launch attacks into Syria. “And so, our concerns remain very vivid,”, US State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said. “The fact of the matter is it’s only exacerbating what is already a very unsafe situation”.
Both oppose calls for Assad to step down as a way of resolving the conflict that has killed more than 290,000 people since it erupted in March 2011. It needs a bigger air field than Russian Federation already has in Syria. “This is an effort to shift the balance of power back in their and Assad’s favor”.
Russian planes also flew out of Hamadan on Tuesday.
Senior Iranian officials said that the arrangement is legal because it only extends to permission to refuel.
“It has gradations, if you will, on what you can or cannot do with regard to providing or giving Iran offensive capabilities”, he said.
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Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies called the housing of Russian bombers in Iran as representative of “a major strategic shift in the Middle East” that is likely to frustrate United States efforts to contain Iran’s influence in the region. But the main advantage, he said, was symbolic.
