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)
TT

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.



Thousands Join Effort to Clean Up Catastrophic Spanish Floods

Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
TT

Thousands Join Effort to Clean Up Catastrophic Spanish Floods

Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce
Rescue workers walk, following heavy rains that caused floods, in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, November 1, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

An arts and science center which normally plays host to opera performances was on Saturday transformed into the nerve center for the clean-up operation after catastrophic floods in eastern Spain which have claimed at least 207 lives.
Volunteers went to Valencia's City of Arts and Sciences for the first coordinated clean-up organized by regional authorities, Reuters reported.
On Friday, the mass spontaneous arrival of volunteers complicated access for professional emergency workers to some areas, prompting authorities to devise a plan on how and where to deploy them.
Carlos Mazon, Valencian regional president posted on X on Friday: "Tomorrow, Saturday, at 7 in the morning, together with the Volunteer Platform, we will launch the volunteer center to better organize, (and) transport the help of those who are helping from the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia."
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to address the nation on Saturday morning.
In some of the worst-hit areas, people have resorted to looting because they have no food or water. Police said on Friday they had arrested 27 people for robbing shops and offices in the Valencia area.
More than 90% of the households in Valencia had regained power on Friday, utility Iberdrola said, though thousands still lacked electricity in cut-off areas that rescuers struggled to reach.
Some 2,000 soldiers were deployed to search for people who are still missing and help survivors of the storm, which triggered a new weather alert in the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, where rains are expected to continue during the weekend.
Officials said the death toll is likely to keep rising. It is already Spain's worst flood-related disaster in more than five decades and the deadliest to hit Europe since the 1970s.