Muna Ali, Baladi News
The Syrian arena witnessed last Sunday two major developments in the multilateral complex war which is going on the Syrian territory. The first one was downing a regime-aircraft by the International Coalition in al-Raqqa. The second was the use of medium range ballistic missiles by Iran in the Syrian province of Deir al-Zour. Both of the incidents carry political messages beyond the military ones, according to analysts.
Missiles By Tehran Are Messages To America
The Syrian politician, Abdulbasset Sida, believes that the Iranian missiles on Deir al-Zor are a clear declaration that Iran has entered the club of the superpowers fighting over Syria which is a significant and dangerous development.
The former Head of the Syrian Opponent Coalition, Hadi al-Bahra, considered this action by Iran, specifically on Deir al-Zor, a threat to the military powers that are aleardy there, especially the US-supported ones, and a message to American that Iran is able of targeting al-Tanef air base.
Chairman of the Committee of National Security and Foreign Policy in the Iranian parliament, Alaadeen Broujerdy, said that targeting the positions of gunmen with missiles at a distance of seven hundred kilometers is the beginning of a new phase in combating terrorism. He also pointed out that this operation was the suitable response towards the new sanctions by the American Congress against Iran.
Downing of "SU 22" Complicates The War
The American response, on the other hand, came in close place and time as the US air force downed a SU-22 warplane of Assad's regime after an aerial confrontation in a clear message to Russia and the Syrian regime that the security of the coalition and the forces it backs on ground can't be compromised.
The downing of this airplane came after fierce clashes and confrontations in the southern countryside of al-Raqqa between regime forces and its allied militias on the one hand and SDF on the other hand. Such a confrontation may add to the complexity of the battle as new enemies appear in the arena.
A Russian-American Debate And A British Warning
"As a result of the recent confrontations with forces loyal to the Syrian regime and the Russian forces, we have taken bold measures to change the aircraft positions over Syria to continue targeting ISIS locations while ensuring the safety of our air crew in the light of current threats," said Lt. Gen. Damien Pickart, the spokesman for the US Central Command.
Russia said on Monday that it will consider the aircrafts of the US-led coalition as potential targets if they flew over the western part of the Euphrates River in Syria and will track them with missile systems and military aircrafts, but it did not say that it will down them, according to Reuters.
These developments pushed the British Prime Minister Theresa May to intervene as she called upon Russia to continue to take "no-engagement" measures in the sky of Syria in order to reduce the risk of misunderstanding in the crowded airspace.
Analysts believe that the new developments on ground will force Russia to take a clearer attitude towards "SDF" militias, which Moscow used to support. Putin, on the other hand, clearly stated that there is no need to support SDF with weapons, commenting on the American decision of arming SDF before launching the battle of al-Raqqa.
Will Tehran's missiles and the downing of "SU-22" open a new page in the complex war at a time when everyone is calling for a political solution in Syria?