Russian Jets to Escort Assad on Iran Trip: Reports
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia has proposed sending four fighter jets to escort the plane carrying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during his upcoming visit to the Iranian capital, media reports said.
According to a report carried by Al-Jazeera on Monday, four Russian warplanes will accompany the plane carrying the Syrian president during his trip to Iran.
Al-Diyar, a Lebanese newspaper close to the government of Assad, said in a recent report that Moscow had alerted the US-led coalition not to "get close to Assad's plane in order to avoid an aerial battle".
It is expected that Assad's plane will fly to Iran through Iraqi airspace, al-Diyar reported.
Al-Diyar also said the exact date would not be disclosed, citing Syrian intelligence sources.
President Assad’s visit to Tehran comes after he flew to Moscow in October for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in what was believed to be his first foreign trip since the start of a civil war in the Arab country in 2011.