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.



Iran’s Khamenei Calls for Death Sentence for Israeli Leaders

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
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Iran’s Khamenei Calls for Death Sentence for Israeli Leaders

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

The supreme leader of Iran, which backs the Hamas and Hezbollah fighters combating Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said on Monday that death sentences should be issued for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants.

Ali Khamenei was commenting on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief and a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri.

"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders", Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Gaza residents expressed hope it would help end the violence and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.

The warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war on the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.

Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.