Iran–Russia relations

Damascus will consider any military operation without the approval of the Syrian authorities to be an invasion, be it Raqqa or any other city, Syrian President Bashar Assad told Russian journalists.

Media reports suggested on Wednesday that 1,000 more troops would be sent into Syria to back the offensive against Daesh in the city of Raqqa.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants and Syria's Russian-backed army fought over the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on Dec. 11, with both sides claiming the upper hand. 

Russia said its jets had helped force the militants out of the city center overnight, and its allies in the Syrian army were now fighting off another assault by the hardline Islamists. 

BELGRADE - President Bashar al-Assad vowed Tuesday to fight on in what he called Syria's war against terrorism, showing no sign of compromise in his first major address since peace talks broke down in April.

It is unlikely that a foreign military will launch a ground operation in Syria as long as Russian warplanes are there, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

The Russian officials comments came after Turkey announced it was ready to send troops to Syria “if necessary.”

Iran used its annual Army Day parade on April 17 to showcase parts of a long-awaited air defence system ordered from Russia, a move likely to irk critics of the arms deal.
 
The S-300 system has been on order since 2007 but Russia postponed the sale three years later after the UN Security Council passed a resolution relating to Iran's nuclear programme.
 

At least 38 people were killed in air strikes carried out by a U.S.-led coalition in Hasakeh province in northeast Syria in the past two days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said on Feb. 18. 

The toll included at least 15 people who were killed when strikes hit a bakery in the city of al-Shadadi near the border with Iraq, the Britain-based Observatory said. 

Russia is ready to share information with the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group on the location of militants in Syria and expects the same in return, a senior Russian military official has said.

Russia is ready to coordinate a set of measures in cooperation with Syria’s government, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after meeting with Syrian counterpart Valid Muallim.

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini warned Oct. 12 that Russian intervention in Syria was a very high-risk "game-changer" as the international community seeks a political solution to the war.

Russia and Syria carried out what appeared to be the first major coordinated assaults on Syrian insurgents on Oct. 7, targeting rebels in the west rather than Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants, a monitor said.