Russia’s Syria withdrawal pre-arranged: Iran’s Shamkhani

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said arrangements for the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria had been made earlier.

The pullout of Russian military forces from Syria was “not surprising at all”, Shamkhani told IRIB on Wednesday morning.

He said the plans for the withdrawal had been made earlier by the Kremlin.

Back on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of the “main part” of Russian forces in Syria, a move that reflected the Kremlin’s achievement of nearly all its goals in the war-torn country.

Shamkhani further emphasized that the fight on terrorism is not going to end in Syria.

“The Syrian Army’s advances in areas where terrorist groups are still threatening the security of people and the region will continue with the advisory helps of Iran and Russia within a joint framework,” the top official added.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has announced that the first group of fighter jets left Syria on Tuesday, a day after President Putin’s order.

The technical staff at the Hmeymim air base near Latakia, Syria, “began to prepare the aircraft for the long-range flights to the Russian Federation,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Russia deployed about 50 fighter jets and attack helicopters to the base starting in September 2015.

Russia has also maintained a naval repair and refueling station on the coast at Tartus, its sole overseas military outpost.

ME