Russia Calls on Iran to Evacuate Military Positions in Central, Western Syria

A photo of the Israeli strike on Iranian arms depots in Masyaf on Thursday. (Pro-regime media)
A photo of the Israeli strike on Iranian arms depots in Masyaf on Thursday. (Pro-regime media)
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Russia Calls on Iran to Evacuate Military Positions in Central, Western Syria

A photo of the Israeli strike on Iranian arms depots in Masyaf on Thursday. (Pro-regime media)
A photo of the Israeli strike on Iranian arms depots in Masyaf on Thursday. (Pro-regime media)

Russia has demanded Iranian militias withdraw from military positions west of Syria’s Hama province as well as from positions in central and western Syria, Syrian regime sources revealed.

The order stems from desire to avoid the militias being targeted by Israeli raids, which have stepped up in recent days.

Regime loyalists have accused Russia of being a weak ally over its inability to break its silence on repeated Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty.

Russia’s demand was made during a meeting that included three Russian officers and their Iranian counterparts at the Hama Military Airport in central Syria on Wednesday.

“Russian officers informed the Iranian side of the need to evacuate Iranian military headquarters near the site of Regiment 49, which belongs to the Syrian regime forces,” a source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The Regiment 49 site is one of the most important military sites in western Hama because it houses long-range S-200 missiles and other Russian-made military equipment.

“The Russian officers also demanded that the Iranians evacuate a second Iranian military site in the Hamidiya area, south of Tartus governorate on the Syrian coast,” the source added.

The order to evacuate the military locations came so that Iranian militias could avoid Israeli air strikes, confirmed the source.

Moreover, the Russians are seeking to maintain stability in western Syria, and to deprive Israelis of excuses or pretexts to continue the bombing this important part of the country.

Recent Israeli air raids had targeted the Military Scientific Research Center and other camps near the city of Masyaf, 40 kilometers west of the center of Hama governorate.

Iranian militias were using the targeted sites to manufacture and develop weapons, including short-range missiles.



Russia’s Medvedev Warns the US: Avoid World War Three

 Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and leader of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a meeting of the United Russia party's programme commission via videoconference at the Gorki state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and leader of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a meeting of the United Russia party's programme commission via videoconference at the Gorki state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)
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Russia’s Medvedev Warns the US: Avoid World War Three

 Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and leader of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a meeting of the United Russia party's programme commission via videoconference at the Gorki state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council and leader of the United Russia party Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a meeting of the United Russia party's programme commission via videoconference at the Gorki state residence outside Moscow, Russia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)

Dmitry Medvedev, a senior Russian security official who served as Russia's president from 2008 to 2012, warned the United States on Saturday to take Russia's nuclear warnings seriously to avoid World War Three.

Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Russia's powerful security council, told RT broadcaster that top US officials did not want World War Three but for some reason they believe "that the Russians will never cross a certain line."

"They are wrong," Medvedev told RT, adding that Moscow believed the current US and European political establishments lacked the "foresight and subtlety of mind" displayed by the late Henry Kissinger.

"If we are talking about the existence of our state, as the president of our country has repeatedly said, your humble servant has said, others have said, of course, we simply will not have any choice," Medvedev said.

The 2-1/2-year-old war in Ukraine is entering what Russian officials say is its most dangerous phase as Russian forces are advancing in eastern Ukraine and the West considers how to shore up Ukraine.

Russia has been signaling for weeks to the West that Moscow will respond if the United States and its allies help Ukraine fire longer-range missiles deep into Russia, while NATO says that North Korea has sent troops to western Russia.

Russian officials say the leaders of the West have failed to heed the signals Moscow has sent over European security and the escalation of the war in Ukraine.

US diplomats say the relationship with Russia is worse than at any time since the depths of the Cold War but that Washington does not seek to escalate the war in Ukraine.