Russia has bombed targets in Syria from an air base in Iran for the first time, strengthening Moscow’s position in the Middle East and increasing pressure on the US to co-ordinate its Syrian military campaign with Russia.
The Russian defence ministry said a group of long-range Tupolev Tu-22 M3 bombers and Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bombers had taken off from Hamadan in the south-west of Tehran. The planes carried out strikes in the provinces of Aleppo, Deir Ezzor and Idlib against Islamist militants fighting for Isis and Jabhat al-Nusra, which has rebranded itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham after revoking direct ties to al-Qaeda.
Iran has no known record of allowing another state to use its territory as a base for fighting against a third country or foreign opposition groups.