Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 6
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
Iran and Russia, which have a common position on Syria, will continue to cooperate on this issue in order to ensure their national security, Vladimir Sotnikov, the senior fellow at the International Security Center of the World Economy and International Relations Institute and the Near and Middle East Department of the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies told Trend Oct. 6.
He recalled that there is a certain anti-ISIS coalition created in parallel to the coalition under the auspices of Washington, which includes Syria, Iran, Iraq and Russia.
"Thus, the cooperation on the Syrian issue is already observed," Sotnikov said. "I think it will continue, as all the members of this coalition are interested in keeping their national security and the maintenance of their national interests, and this, in turn, implies the fight on all fronts against militants of the "Islamic State"."
Iran and Russia are actively supporting the Syrian authorities, while the majority of the countries of the coalition against the ISIS led by the United States are in favor of withdrawal of President Bashar Assad from the post.
Sotnikov went on to add that of course, Russia and Iran have their own interests in this matter, however, the sides have no fundamental differences.
"Both Iran and Russia can be seriously affected if urgent and drastic measures against ISIS jihadists are not taken," said Sotnikov. "Moreover, Iran borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, which also have a certain number of the ISIS militants."
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin appealed to the Federation Council for permission to use the Russian Armed Forces abroad. The Senate approved this request. The head of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergey Ivanov told reporters that the decision concerns Syria and the matter rests in the operation of the Military Air Forces.
Russia sent military aircraft to Syria after Damascus's request. The Russian Military Forces are inflicting strikes on the positions of the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria.
Edited by CN
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