Tuesday’s missions were unprecedented.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, Russian bombers used the Iranian airbase for the first time.
Russian Federation on Tuesday first announced that it had launched the strikes from near the Iranian city of Hamedan and struck targets in three provinces in northern and eastern Syria.
The negotiations have dragged on for weeks. Toner said the United States was still open to coordinating with Russian Federation in the fight against Islamic State, but “we have certain issues that we want resolved” before entering into such a deal.
Russian Federation first announced the strikes on Tuesday from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 175 miles southwest of Tehran.
Col Garver said the Russians bombed ISIS in central Syria near Dayr Az Zawr and conducted the two other strikes in northwest Syria near Aleppo, where rebels have been battling Syrian government forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
But the West has been pinning its hopes on Moscow.
While it allows no permanent or temporary establishment of military bases in the Iranian territory, it allows for deployment of foreign forces depending on approval of the SNSC. And Russia had only used its own territory and assets inside Syria for such operations previously.
“Our cooperating with Russia on regional issues such as Syria does not mean that we have given a military base to Russia”, Larijani remarked.
“No supplying, selling or transferring of warplanes to Iran has occurred”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Underscoring the USA confusion, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that Washington was “still trying to assess what exactly they’re doing”.
On Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said another wave of bombers had departed from Iran, striking targets in eastern Syria.
The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, said on August 17 that Russian Federation does not have a permanent military base in Iran, but stressed that Iran has “good cooperation with Russian Federation and we say that loud and clear”.
In this photo taken on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, A Russian Tu-22M3 bomber stands on the tarmac at an air base near Hamedan, Iran.
More than 290,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the beginning of Syria’s civil war, which started in 2011 with anti-regime protests. Millions have fled as refugees, contributing to a global migration crisis.
Syrian rebels and opposition activists reacted angrily to the news.
The new arrangement is controversial in Iran because the constitution adopted after the 1979 revolution specifically bars any foreign power from basing troops in the country. “This will further tarnish US credibility with Syrian rebel groups and USA allies in the Middle East”.
The State Department’s Toner said the Russian cooperation with Iran doesn’t preclude the possibility of a U.S. “Therefore, Iran’s approach to Russian Federation is strategic and all-encompassing”, he stated.
He said Iran’s Supreme National Security Council had given permission for Russian Federation to use the air base.
The resolution prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran unless approved in advance by the U.N. Security Council, something he said hadn’t occurred. Russian officials on Wednesday rejected USA criticisms of its use of the base.
That by itself is hardly significant.
Advertisement
The U.S. also has airlifted tons of weaponry to opposition groups in northern Syria.
