11 February 2017•Update: 11 February 2017
ISTANBUL
A senior Iranian official said on Saturday that Iran was willing to open its air space to Russian warplanes.
According to the Iranian official news agency Mehr, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said his country was open to all types of cooperation regarding Syria.
"Iran and Russia are inclusively fighting against terrorism in Syria. Iran can open its air space to Russian war planes aimed at supporting the ground operation if required," he said.
Shamkhani described the relations between Iran and Russia as "completely strategic". The Tehran administration opened its air space to Russian war planes on Oct. 7, 2015 for air operations on Syria.
On Aug, 16, 2016, Iran opened its air space to Russian war planes again for an operation in Syria. The planes took off from an airbase in state of Hamedan in western Iran.
Reporting by Ahmet Dursun:Writing by Emin Avundukluoglu
