Russia launches third day of Syria strikes from Iran

Russia’s Defense Ministry also mockingly dismissed U.S. State Department charges that the arrangement for use of the Iranian airbase southwest of Tehran could be in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 prohibiting the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday his country’s warplanes were only using the base and “there has been no supply, sale or transfer of combat jets to Iran”.

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”.

“It’s against our rules to provide advice to the leadership of the U.S. State Department”, he said.

While Russia has claimed that it is striking terrorist targets, USA officials say it is mostly targeting the opposition, including those backed by the West.

The announcement from Russian Federation marks the first significant stationing of its troops there since World War II, when allied British and Soviet forces invaded Iran to secure oil fields and keep Allied supply lines open.

Russian Federation has opened up a new front in the Syria conflict by using a base in Iran to launch its airstrikes. “Syrian treaty allowing the bombardment of Syrian territory by drones and planes from the Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, or any other foreign air bases”, he said.

“The presence of the Russian aerospace force in Iran is a factor for regional stability”.

The statement said, “On August 16, 2016, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 tactical bombers took off from the “Hamedan” airbase (the Islamic Republic of Iran) and carried out a concentrated airstrike on objects of the ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groupings in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib”.

Mr. Obama’s public shaming of Mr. Assad five years ago, and his declaration in 2012 of a “red line” against the use of chemical weapons in Syria, raised expectations that the USA would take strong actions to topple the Syrian regime, said Jim Phillips, a specialist on the Middle East at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Garver said the Russians had provided “not a lot” of warning but that it “was enough time to make sure that we could ensure safety of flight”.

This devastating footage shows Russian fighter jets dropping dozens of bombs on Syria killing more than 150 ISIS fighters.

Both countries back Assad.

“The message is: We are here for the long haul”, Mr. Harmer said.

“The Russians are showing they have options in Syria while they have Washington over a barrel on Aleppo”, said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Toner, however, defended the USA campaign. The move came with little notice to the United States, which has watched helplessly the escalating bloodshed near Aleppo, the country’s biggest city, and even offered an alliance with Russian Federation against Islamic State and other extremist fighters as a way to get Syria’s government out of the fight. “Too costly at this particular moment”, he said.

Toner said that beyond the question of Russia’s use of a base in Iran, its air strikes often “indiscriminately” hit civilian targets and moderate Syrian opposition groups.

Syrian rebels and opposition activists reacted angrily to the news.

The diplomacy comes amid fierce fighting in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and new Russian bombing operations in Syria originating from an Iranian air base. Russia’s probable goal in brokering piece is to reinstate Assad or another pro-Russian leader, while the United States supports anti-Assad rebels.