TEHRAN – The Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Secretary has characterized relations between Tehran and Moscow as one much beyond the counterterrorism campaign, wide enough to cover other areas, as well.

 “Relations between Iran and Russia which benefit the national interests of both and are within a strategic framework are not limited to fighting terrorism only and include wider dimensions,” ISNA quoted Ali Shamkhani as having said on Tuesday.
Providing crucial military backup to President Bashar al-Assad against the foreign-backed militancy, Tehran and Moscow have solidified their alliance with Tehran allowing Russian fighters and bombers flying from an air base in western Iran to conduct airstrikes in Syria.
Last week, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers took off from Nojeh air base in Iran to launch air strikes against armed groups in Syria, a move Shamkhani described as “strategic,” under which the two “share their facilities and capacities” in their fight on terrorism. 
The former Iranian defense minister saw the alliance as a counterbalance against Washington delaying game in Syria to have the final say. 
“Close coordination among Iran, Syria, and Russia in conducting recent operations against takfiri terrorists in Syria came as a blow to the U.S.’s delaying tactic to impose its will in security equations in Syria,” he said. 
Contrary to what the U.S. and its allies would expect, the tripartite front has proven very effective by “inflicting decisive blows from air and ground on takfiri terrorists in Syria,” Shamkhani explained. 
Over the past months, the Syrian army has been gaining ground with Aleppo becoming the focus of fighting, now a battlefield fought by a number of groups. It has left thousands of civilians and non-civilians killed and thousands more injured. 
Shamkhani expressed hope for an end to the atrocities after Tehran took the initiative to play a more direct role by leaving the air base upon proposal by Russia.  

AK/PA