“There are no reasons to suspect Russian Federation of violating resolution 2231”, Lavrov said during a news conference Wednesday.
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Russian Federation on Tuesday, August 16, began flying warplanes from an Iranian airbase in a major switch in its bombing campaign in Syria that the United States condemned as “unfortunate”.
But Lavrov insisted that “in the case we are discussing now, there was neither the sale, nor supply, nor transfer of warplanes to Iran“.
Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman, told reporters that it’s still unclear whether Russia’s use of the Iranian base was a “one off thing” or the start of a new campaign.
“So we’re looking at it and we’re trying to make a sober assessment of whether this constitutes, in our view, a violation”, Toner added.
US officials said the setup at the Iranian air base occurred very quickly, perhaps overnight.
The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.
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 Assad in September previous year.
This follows a move this week by Russian Federation to start using an Iranian airbase to launch attacks into Syria.
“The fight for territory and resources is being undertaken through indiscriminate attacks on residential areas, including through the use of barrel bombs, killing hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children”, Ban said in the United Nations report.
Airstrikes in Syria have killed 70 rebels over the past 24 hours in a contested region south of the northern province of Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported Thursday.
“Fundamentally, this isn’t helpful – and it’s not helpful because, you know, it continues to complicate an already risky situation in and around Aleppo, when you have Russian Federation using Iranian air bases as a way to carry out more intensive bombing runs that are hitting – continue to hit – civilian populations”.
Russia’s military also responded forcefully to USA criticism, saying that the State Department had misinterpreted the resolution.
But the talk of intelligence and targeting sharing, and even joint bombing operations, quickly prompted significant dissent within the Obama administration.
Mr. Phillips said the actions taken against Mr. Assad have proved to be “too little, too late”.
What is illegal is USA military presence in Syria, he argued, saying, “The presence of Iran and Russian Federation (in Syria) is legal, because the Syrian government has requested it”.
For the second day, Russian warplanes used an airbase in Iran to hit targets in Syria Wednesday in another sign of growing cooperation between Moscow and Tehran to counter USA interests in the region.
A prominent Iranian lawmaker has confirmed that Russian Federation is using Iran’s Shahid Nojeh Air Base for airstrikes in Syria.
Russian Federation had previously only flown raids out of its bases in Syria and Russian Federation. The distance from Hamedan is less than half that. It’s more complex than that.
The deployment appeared to stem from political and strategic objectives, rather than military needs.
The Russian Defense Ministry released special footage of its aircraft operating from Iran and bombing targets in Syria.
“There are no reasons whatsoever to suspect Russian Federation of violating Resolution 2231”, the minister said.
The attack hit two Daesh command points and large training camps, “eliminating more than 150 militants”, the ministry said in comments carried by TASS.
Flying from Hamedan airbase instead of Russia’s base at Mozdoko in the north Caucasus cuts the distance from almost 2,000 kilometers to less than 700 kilometers.
The Russian planes flew over Iraq, apparently without the permission of Iraq’s government, a USA official said.
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By allowing foreign troops on its soil for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution – and Russians for the first time since World War II – Iran may be seeking to show it can end its isolation with or without the United States, analysts said. However, nothing bars Iranian officials from allowing foreign countries to use an airfield.
