Russian warplanes deployed from a base in Iran for the first time on Tuesday to launch air strikes against the Islamic State and Syrian militants, expanding Moscow’s military involvement in Syria.
It was the first time Russia has used the territory of another country in the Middle East for its operations in Syria since launching its air campaign in support of President Bashar al Assad last fall.
Iran has not permitted a foreign nation to launch military operations from its territory since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, underscoring increasingly strong relations between Tehran and Moscow.
Long-range Russian Tu-22M3 and Su-34 fighter bombers took off from Iran’s Hamadan air base to target ISIS and Jabhat al Nusra, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Syria, Moscow’s defense ministry said Tuesday.
The strikes hit "numerous militants," destroyed five major ammunition depots, training camps, and three command posts, Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement.
Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tehran and Moscow have exchanged "capacity and possibilities" in their war against ISIS and rebel groups inside Syria.
"With constructive and extended cooperation between Iran, Russia, and Syria, and the resistance front [Hezbollah], the situation has become very tough for terrorists and the trend will continue until the complete destruction of them," Shamkhani said, according to the Associated Press.
The development comes a day after Russia’s defense minister said Monday that Moscow and Washington were inching closer to a deal that would amplify cooperation in the besieged city of Aleppo, Syria.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the agreement would allow the Cold War enemies "to find common ground and start fighting together for bringing peace to that territory." He said Russian representatives are "in a very active stage of talks with our American colleagues."
An unnamed U.S. official, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that the two countries are still negotiating cooperation and are nowhere near an agreement.
The Obama administration has been working to finalize an agreement that would coordinate air strikes with Russia against extremists in Syria. Opponents of the pact at the Pentagon and CIA have warned that Moscow, which has often targeted U.S.-backed Syrian rebels, could not be trusted to honor its provisions.