In a move to expand its air campaign, Russia carried out airstrikes in Syria’s southern province of Daraa Wednesday night, reportedly striking villages only 15 kilometers from the Israeli Golan Heights, according to reports. It’s the closest that Russian aircraft have been to the Israeli border. According to The Jerusalem Post, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Abraham Assael, CEO of the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies in Herzliya, said that “the mere fact of this makes us a little more worried … due to the potential of creating an unclear picture, and the potential for accidental friction, the end result of which is unknown.”
Despite Russian claims that their entry into Syria was based on their desire to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Russia and Iran have, in the past month, “stepped up” their operations inside of Syria against rebel groups. In recent weeks, Iran has sent up to 2,000 of its own troops and fighters from Iranian-backed militias “to the front lines.” In response to Russia’s expansion into Syria a month ago, former Deputy Director of the CIA John McLaughlin said, “These are facts on the ground… Anything we do now will be conditioned by their presence and influence. This is a reality we now have to deal with.” This week, the U.S. announced that talks aimed at achieving a political transition in Syria would be held in Vienna on Friday and that Russia and Iran would be participating. At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) pressed Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Anne Patterson, on why Russia and Iran were invited to the talks, if they do not share the same end goals as the United States. She responded, “Well, from a practical matter, Senator, they’re there on the ground. So they have to be involved in the process.”
For the past ten days, Russia has also aided Iran in delivering weapons into Syria, according to a Fox News report on Wednesday. According to the report, Russia uses unregistered cargo planes to help deliver the weapons shipments, and Iran’s head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ expeditionary Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, is said to be coordinating the flights. Iran’s weapons trafficking is a violation of two UN Security Council resolutions. The report also highlighted that a sanctioned Iranian civilian airline is flying “military personnel” multiple times per day from Tehran to Latakia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s stronghold along the western coast of Syria.
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