IN A FIRST, RUSSIA USES IRANIAN BASE TO BOMB SYRIA
Bombers use Iranian airbase to strike in Syria
• Russian bombers flying from an Iranian airbase struck rebel targets across Syria on Tuesday, Russian and Iranian officials said, dramatically underscoring the two countries’ growing military ties and highlighting Russia’s ambitions for greater influence in a turbulent Middle East.
The long-range Tu-22 bombers took off from a base near Hamadan in western Iran and launched raids in Syria’s Aleppo, Deir al-Zour and Idlib provinces, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
Both countries are staunch allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and the flights marked the first time Russia has launched strikes from Iranian territory.
Iran has long banned foreign militaries from establishing bases on its soil. But the raids on Tuesday appeared to signal a budding alliance that would expand Russia’s military footprint in the region.
Iran and Russia “enjoy strategic cooperation in the fight against terrorism in Syria, and share their facilities and capacities to this end,” Iran’s National Security Council chief, Ali Shamkhani, said Tuesday.
Shiite-led Iran has sent thousands of troops and fighters, including members of its Revolutionary Guard Corps, to Syria to bolster Assad — who is from the minority Alawite sect — against largely Sunni rebels. For Tehran, losing a longtime ally to a majority-Sunni uprising would undermine its own influence in the region.
Iranian proxies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and an array of Shiite Iraqi militias have also fought for the Syrian regime. And last year, Russia intervened as well, committing tanks, artillery and combat aircraft to the fight. It also built a new airbase in Latakia province in the Alawite heartland.
But until now, Russia’s long-range bombers, which require longer airstrips, had to be launched from Russian territory almost 2,000 kilometres away. Now, those same bombers need to fly only about 650 kilometres from Iran to Syria. The shorter distance will allow Russia to intensify its air campaign against rebel-held areas.
Both government troops and opposition fighters are now locked in a battle for the strategic Syrian city of Aleppo, where residents face a growing humanitarian crisis. Russia has carried out strikes in support of government troops there, activists say.
But rights groups have criticized both Russia and the Syrian regime for repeated strikes on civilian targets, including homes, schools and hospitals. Russian and Syrian officials have denied those reports.