Russia posts 22 jets in Iran for Syria, plans to use cruise missiles

Russian warplanes have been deployed to the Hamedan Air Base in western Iran and some of the 22 strategic TU-22M3 bombers have already carried out sorties against ISIS targets in Syria, Iran’s Al-Masdar News reports. Their deployment to Hamedan reduces by 60 pc the 2,150km flight distance from Russia’s Modzok airfield to Palmyra, Syria to just 900km. Russia’s Khmeimim Airbase in Syria is not adapted to serve the massive Tupelev, one of the largest bombers in the world.

Tuesday morning, Russia also requested Iraq and Iran airspace permission for transporting cruise missiles into Syria