PHOTO: Men dig through rubble after a Russian-regime bombing on Aleppo city last week
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Audio Analysis: Russia & Iran Step Up the War, as the US Watches
Iran Daily: Top Official — “We Will Maintain Intervention in Syria and Iraq”
UPDATE 1600 GMT: Claimed images of another Russian airstrike on a medical facility, this time in Daret Izza in Aleppo Province on Tuesday:
A video of the supposed strike, taken from a distance, has also been posted.
UPDATE 1200 GMT: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has rejected any claim that Moscow has violated UN sanctions on Iran with the deployment of its warplanes in a western Iranian base.
UN Resolution 2231, passed last July at the time of the nuclear deal between Tehran and the 5+1 Powers, prohibits arms-related transfers to Iran without advance permission from the Security Council. On Tuesday, US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Russia’s move of warplane might be in violation of the resolution.
Lavrov responded on Wednesday:
In the case we’re discussing there has been no supply, sale or transfer of fighter jets to Iran. The Russian Air Force uses these fighter jets with Iran’s approval in order to take part in the counter-terrorism operation [in Syria].
The Foreign Minister said the US should not “nitpick about what is happening in terms of the remaining restrictions on trade and ties with Iran”..
UPDATE 1040 GMT: Pro-rebel accounts report a “fierce” attempt by pro-Assad forces to retake the 1070 housing complex (see map) on the southwestern Aleppo front.
Attacks are also reported on the northern part of the artillery base taken by rebels earlier this month.
The accounts claim that two regime BMP armored vehicles have been destroyed by anti-tank guided missiles.
Pro-Assad forces had regained about 25 buildings in the large complex in several days of counter-attacks.
Rebels also claim that they repelled an attack on the al-Aqrab area (see map), west of the town of Ramouseh near the southern ring road.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: The head of the United Nations warned again on Tuesday of an unprecedented “humanitarian catastrophe” in Syria’s largest city Aleppo.
In his latest monthly report to the Security Council, Ban Ki-moon pressed Russia and the US to quickly arrange a ceasefire in and beyond the city: “In Aleppo we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unprecedented in the over five years of bloodshed and suffering in the Syrian conflict.”
However, Ban offered no idea on how Russia — which is providing essential backing to the Assad regime through intense airstrikes — could be persuaded to pursue a meaningful cessation of hostilities.
Instead, the Secretary-General referred to the escalation of assaults, with a reference to the Assad regime’s barrel-bombing tactics:
The fight for territory and resources is being undertaken through indiscriminate attacks on residential areas, including through the use of barrel bombs, killing hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children.
All parties to the conflict are failing to uphold their obligation to protect civilians.
The Secretary General repeated a UN call for a “humanitarian pause” of at least 48 hours in Aleppo to allow aid deliveries.
The Local Coordination Committees said that, of 100 deaths documented on Tuesday, 67 were in Aleppo Province.
Ban’s report came soon after a phone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the call on Tuesday afternoon was at Kerry’s initiative. It gave no details of the conversation.
The head nurse of a children’s hospital in opposition-held Aleppo city speaks of a Russian-regime airstrike on the facility:
Malika is the head nurse of the children's hospital in #Aleppo. She refuses to leave! Braver than most men I know. pic.twitter.com/t0JD7dZlzd
— LiveUpdatesFromSyria (@liveupdatesyria) August 16, 2016
Meanwhile, Russia confirmed its first airstrikes from a base in western Iran.
The Russians flew some of their largest long-range bombers, the Tu22-33M “Backfire”, and Su-34 tactical bombers from Hamedan across Iraq and into northern Syria.
The Russian Defense Ministry said attacks were carried out on Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo, and Idlib Provinces. It claimed the attacks were on the Islamic State and the jihadists of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra); however, the inclusion of Idlib in the list of locations pointed to bombing of Syrian rebels as well.
See Syria Feature: Russian Bombers Begin Operations from Iranian Airbase
In southern Syria, regime warplanes continued months of bombing of the Damascus suburb of Darayya:
Darayya has been besieged since November 2012. Pro-Assad forces have been trying to overrun the town this summer, but continue to face resistance.
The Local Coordination Committees report this morning that the town has been attacked with a dozen barrel bombs, five surface-to-surface missiles, and dozens of shells amid “fierce clashes” on several fronts.
Map: Latest Battlefield Situation Near Aleppo
Artur Rosinski of NewsMap sets out the latest frontlines southwest of Aleppo, following this month’s rebel offensive that has taken territory and broken the pro-Assad siege of opposition districts of the city:
Rebels tried last weekend to overrun a pro-Assad garrison at a cement factory on the southern ring road (see map), but pulled back amid intense Russian bombing.
Pro-regime outlets are highlighting attempts by the Syrian military and foreign allies to regain parts of the 1070 housing complex (see map), near the 2-km (1.25-mile) corridor that rebels have opened into Aleppo city.
