Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition
The Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition (RSII coalition),[1] also referred to as 4+1 (in which the "plus one" refers to Hezbollah of Lebanon),[2] is a joint intelligence-sharing cooperation between opponents of the Islamic State (IS) with operation rooms in Syria's Damascus and Iraq's Green Zone in Baghdad.[3][4] It was formed as a consequence of an agreement reached at the end of September 2015 between Russia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic to "help and cooperate in collecting information about the terrorist Daesh group" (ISIL) with a view to combatting the advances of the group, according to the statement issued by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.[5][6][7] The statement also cited "the increasing concern from Russia about thousands of Russian terrorists committing criminal acts within ISIS."[5]
In October 2015, it was suggested that the Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition may have been devised during the visit by Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Quds Force, to Moscow in July 2015.[8][9][10][11] During the early days of the operation, the Russian Air Force were backed by the Syrian Armed Forces, Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and allied militias.[12] The United States, along with its NATO and Arab allies, all of which have been hostile to the four countries and Hezbollah since the start of the Syrian civil war, have criticized this coalition.
Background[edit]
Russia and Iran[edit]
For two and a half decades, the Russian elite were split on Iran. Some, like Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, saw Iran as a bargaining chip in possible deals with the Western world. On the other hand, Eurasianists like political analyst Aleksandr Dugin wanted a Russo-Iranian alliance to counter Western influence.[13]
Agreement[edit]
At the end of September 2015, a joint information center in Baghdad was set up by Iran, Iraq, Russia, and Syria to coordinate their operations against ISIL. According to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's statement made in mid-October 2015, prior to the start of its operations in Syria, Russia invited the U.S. to join the Baghdad-based information center but received what he called an "unconstructive" response. Putin's proposal that the U.S. receive a high-level Russian delegation and that a U.S. delegation arrive in Moscow to discuss co-operation in Syria was likewise declined by the U.S.[20][21] Following an official request from the Syrian government for martial help against rebel and jihadist groups in Syria, the coalition started its work.[22] It was generally thought that Iran would play a leading role in the ground operations of Syria's army and allies, whilst Russia would be leading in the air in conjunction with the Syrian air force, thereby establishing a complementary role.[23] For Western countries and the Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition ISIS has been a common enemy, although each country has very different friends and opposing views of how to solve the crisis.[12]
In an interview with Iranian TV, Assad said that the success of this agreement was vital to save the Middle East from destruction. He said that the year-long air campaign by the US-led coalition had been counterproductive and had helped terrorism to spread and win new recruits, but that the new coalition of Russia, Syria, Iran, and Iraq, could achieve real results.[12]