TEHRAN – Iran will not allow the Russian air force to use its air space for conducting air strikes against terrorist strongholds unless Tehran and Moscow agree on a common decision on “battlefield targets.” 

“Russia’s use of Iran’s sky depends on preliminaries being arranged and joint decisions made on battlefield targets in fighting terrorism,” said Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. 

While Tehran had previously announced that cooperation with the Russian air force was on the basis of certain protocols signed, Shamkhani’s remarks may implicitly indicate some sort of divergence over bombing targets in Syria.

“Probably, in saying so Iran wants the Russian air force to launch air strikes against strongholds it wishes to target,” an expert familiar with the issue who asked not to be identified told the Tehran Times. 

On a wider scope it may refer to disagreement over classification of terrorists, he added. 

On August 16, 2016, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 tactical bombers took off from the Hamedan airbase in western Iran and carried out a concentrated airstrike on the strongholds of the ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist groups in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor and Idlib. 

Iran had already opened its airspace to Russian fighters as well as missiles fired from its Caspian Sea flotilla in October 2015, when four Russian warships launched a total of 26 Kalibr cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea, pounding targets in Syria.

AK/PA