The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
The Syrian opposition organization Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in the UK, reported on October 15, 2023 that an Iranian cargo plane linked to Mahan Air airlines which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has landed at Russia's Khmeimim Air Base on the Syrian coast instead of at the Aleppo international airport where activity was stopped following the October 14 Israeli attack on it. This is the first time an Iranian plane has landed at the Russian base.[1]
The report did not provide details on the cargo carried by the Iranian plane. However, Mahan Air is sanctioned by the U.S. for transferring fighters, weapons, and equipment for the IRGC Qods Forces, Hizbullah, and the Syrian regime.[2]
A Mahan Air plane (Twitter.com/MahanAirlines, October 15, 2023)
This report is additional evidence of Russia-Iran cooperation, as also indicated in an October 2, 2023 report in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida. According to that report, Russia and Iran have reached an agreement under which Hizbullah will transfer its old equipment to Arab tribes in Eastern Syria and also to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, in exchange for Russian assistance in transferring advanced Iranian weaponry to Hizbullah via Syria.[3]
[1] October 15, 2023.
[2] Home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1098, August 19, 2020.
[3] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 10821, Kuwaiti Daily: Hizbullah Will Transfer Its Outdated Weapons To The Arab Tribes In Eastern Syria And To Russia, And Russia Will Facilitate The Transfer Of Advanced Iranian Weapons To Hizbullah Via Syria, October 3, 2023.
The full text of this post is available to subscribers.
Please login or register to request subscription information from MEMRI
