Russia, Spurning U.S. Censure, Launches Second Day Of Syria Strikes From Iran
Source: Reuters
By Alexander Winning and Andrew Osborn | MOSCOW
Russia launched a second day of air strikes against Syrian militants from an Iranian air base, rejecting U.S. suggestions its co-operation with Tehran might violate a U.N. resolution as illogical and factually incorrect.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Tuesday called the Iranian deployment "unfortunate," saying the United States was looking into whether the move violated U.N. Security Council resolution 2231, which prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.
Russia bristled at those comments on Wednesday after announcing that Russian SU-34 fighter bombers flying from Iran's Hamadan air base had for a second day struck Islamic State targets in Syria's Deir al-Zor province, destroying two command posts and killing more than 150 militants.
"It's not our practice to give advice to the leadership of the U.S. State Department," Major-General Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-russia-iran-idUSKCN10S0VB
Iran Acknowledges Russia Using Its Air Base To Strike Syria
BEIRUT (AP) -- In a move that could reverberate across the Middle East, Iran confirmed Wednesday that Russia is using its territory to launch airstrikes in Syria even as a second wave of Moscow's bombers flew out of the Islamic Republic to hit targets in the war-ravaged country.
The development represents a historical rapprochement with Russia that could rile U.S.-allied Gulf neighbors, strengthen Syrian President Bashar Assad and impact the war against the Islamic State group
Russia first announced the strikes on Tuesday from near the Iranian city of Hamedan, 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. On Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry said another wave of warplanes had departed from Iran, striking targets in eastern Syria.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, then gave the first government acknowledgement of the Russian operation. He said the Russians were using Iran's Shahid Nojeh air base some 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Hamedan, a secluded base where Russian warplanes were detected landing late last year.
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