![Bagheri [centre] and his Russian counterpart said US strikes aimed to stall victories.](https://newnation.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1491750117_8.jpg)
AFP, Tehran :
The army chiefs of Russia and Iran discussed the US strikes in Syria by phone on Saturday, and vowed to continue the fight against “terrorists” and their supporters, Iranian media reported.
The two chiefs of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri and General Valery Gerasimov, “condemned the American operation against a Syrian air base which is an aggression against an independent country”, state news agency IRNA said.
The American strikes “aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups”, they said in a statement.
The two army leaders vowed to continue their military cooperation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “until the total defeat of the terrorists and those that support them”, according to the Mehr news agency.
Iran and Russia are Assad’s closest allies and label all opponents of his regime as “terrorists”.
Both governments have defended Assad against Western allegations that his regime carried out a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun on Tuesday, killing dozens of civilians.
General Valery Gerasimov and Major General Mohammad Bagheri spoke by phone and “condemned the American operation against a Syrian airbase which is an aggression against an independent country”, Iran’s state news agency IRNA said. Russia and Iran are Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closest allies, and label all opponents of his regime as “terrorists”.
US warships in the Mediterranean launched a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat airbase in Syria early on Friday, after 87 people including 31 children were killed in a suspected aerial chemical attack on rebel-held Khan Sheikhun.
It was Washington’s first direct military action against Assad’s government.
Another air strike on Saturday on the same town in the northwestern province of Idlib killed a woman, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
It said it was unclear if the latest strike was by Syrian or Russian warplanes.
The monitor also reported an air strike on Urum al-Joz, another Idlib town, on Saturday that killed 18 civilians including five children, which it said was believed to have been carried out by Russian aircraft.
Idlib province is controlled by a rebel alliance that includes a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and is regularly targeted by both the Syrian government and its Russian ally.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Washington of “playing the terrorism game”, during his first phone talks with his US counterpart Rex Tillerson since the US air strikes on Syria.
Speaking on a US talkshow to be aired Sunday, Tillerson insisted he had no concerns about possible retaliation by Moscow as “Russians were never targeted” in the strike and said defeating the Islamic State group was the top priority for the US in Syria.
“Once the ISIS threat has been reduced or eliminated, I think we can turn our attention directly to stabilising the situation in Syria,” he told CBS television’s “Face the Nation” in a clip released ahead of its air time.
The army chiefs of Russia and Iran discussed the US strikes in Syria by phone on Saturday, and vowed to continue the fight against “terrorists” and their supporters, Iranian media reported.
The two chiefs of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri and General Valery Gerasimov, “condemned the American operation against a Syrian air base which is an aggression against an independent country”, state news agency IRNA said.
The American strikes “aim at slowing the victories of the Syrian army and its allies, and reinforcing terrorist groups”, they said in a statement.
The two army leaders vowed to continue their military cooperation in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad “until the total defeat of the terrorists and those that support them”, according to the Mehr news agency.
Iran and Russia are Assad’s closest allies and label all opponents of his regime as “terrorists”.
Both governments have defended Assad against Western allegations that his regime carried out a suspected chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun on Tuesday, killing dozens of civilians.
General Valery Gerasimov and Major General Mohammad Bagheri spoke by phone and “condemned the American operation against a Syrian airbase which is an aggression against an independent country”, Iran’s state news agency IRNA said. Russia and Iran are Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s closest allies, and label all opponents of his regime as “terrorists”.
US warships in the Mediterranean launched a barrage of 59 cruise missiles at Shayrat airbase in Syria early on Friday, after 87 people including 31 children were killed in a suspected aerial chemical attack on rebel-held Khan Sheikhun.
It was Washington’s first direct military action against Assad’s government.
Another air strike on Saturday on the same town in the northwestern province of Idlib killed a woman, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
It said it was unclear if the latest strike was by Syrian or Russian warplanes.
The monitor also reported an air strike on Urum al-Joz, another Idlib town, on Saturday that killed 18 civilians including five children, which it said was believed to have been carried out by Russian aircraft.
Idlib province is controlled by a rebel alliance that includes a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, and is regularly targeted by both the Syrian government and its Russian ally.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Washington of “playing the terrorism game”, during his first phone talks with his US counterpart Rex Tillerson since the US air strikes on Syria.
Speaking on a US talkshow to be aired Sunday, Tillerson insisted he had no concerns about possible retaliation by Moscow as “Russians were never targeted” in the strike and said defeating the Islamic State group was the top priority for the US in Syria.
“Once the ISIS threat has been reduced or eliminated, I think we can turn our attention directly to stabilising the situation in Syria,” he told CBS television’s “Face the Nation” in a clip released ahead of its air time.
