Until now, the only way to get Russia’s medium and large bomber aircraft over Syria was to take off from Russian bases, which means a round-trip of at least 4,000 km (2,500 miles).
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The Observatory – which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information – says it determines what planes carried out raids according to their type, location, flight patterns and the munitions involved.
It is virtually unheard of in Iran’s recent history to allow a foreign power to use one of its bases to stage attacks from.
“On August 16 Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 frontline bombers, flying with a full bomb load from the Hamedan air base (Islamic Republic of Iran), conducted a group air strike against targets of the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir Ezzor and Idlib”, the ministry said in a statement.
Before, Moscow only used facilities in Russian Federation and in the government-controlled areas in Syria for its missions in the Arab country.
It added that a “significant number of militants” had been killed in the strikes, which took place on Tuesday (local time).
US Secretary of State John Kerry recently threatened a “Plan B” to increase arms to Syrian rebels if Russian Federation and Assad did not change tactics and stop targeting moderate opposition groups supported by the US and its European and Arab partners.
Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Moscow-based think tank CAST, said an agreement had likely been reached between Moscow and Tehran on the use of Iranian airfields for bombing runs in Syria.
The report described the air base as “quite large with a 15,000-foot (4,572-meter) runway, extensive taxiways and multiple hangars and bunkers – all seemingly in good fix”.
It was the first time Russian Federation has used the territory of another nation, apart from Syria itself, to launch such strikes since the Kremlin launched a bombing campaign to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September previous year.
The move shows Russia is expanding its role and presence in the Middle East and comes amid Russian media reports Moscow has asked Iran and Iraq for permission to fire cruise missiles at Syrian targets across their territory from the Caspian Sea.
Tuesday’s announcement marks a major development in the efforts against the Sunni militant group.
The Iranian deployment will boost Russia’s image as a central player in the Middle East.
Russian Federation and Iran have been expanding their ties in the past months after most of the sanctions against Iran were lifted following the nuclear deal with world powers that put restricted Iran’s nuclear program from weapons-grade capability.
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“As a result of the strikes five large arms depots were destroyed. a militant training camp [and] three command and control points”, the ministry said in a statement.
