Iran-Russia Alliance Underscored

The alliance between Iran and Russia is critical to maintaining their upperhand in the Syria war, which is now in its sixth year, a lawmaker said. “The consolidation of recent gains by the Syrian Army is contingent on continued cooperation between Iran and Russia to provide advisory help,” Abolfazl Hassanbeigi said in a talk with ICANA on Saturday. Iran and Russia are key backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against a patchwork of armed militant groups who have relied on support from western powers and their regional allies to dislodge him. Assad’s forces managed to drive insurgents out of Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, earlier this month. “It will be damaging to Russia’s interests if it adopts a policy to break ranks with Iran on Syria,” Hassanbeigi said. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, recently said Tehran and Moscow have set up a joint operation room in Syria where they cooperate to provide military advice to the Syrian Army and resistance forces.