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Russian Missiles Aimed at Syria Crashed in Iran, U.S. Officials Say Four Syria-Bound Russian Missiles Crashed in Iran, U.S. Officials Say
(about 2 hours later)
BRUSSELS — Cruise missiles fired by Russia from warships in the Caspian Sea at targets in Syria crashed in a rural area of Iran, senior United States officials said on Thursday. BRUSSELS — Four cruise missiles, among 26 fired by Russia from warships in the Caspian Sea at targets in Syria, crashed in a rural area of northern Iran, senior United States officials said on Thursday. Russian and Iranian officials dismissed the claim as nonsense.
It was unclear exactly where in Iran the missiles had landed, or whether there were any casualties. The officials said the flight path of the Russian cruise missiles would have taken them across northern sections of Iran and Iraq on the way to Syria. But not all of them made it there, one official said. It was unclear exactly where in Iran the missiles might have landed, or whether there had been any casualties or damage. The United States officials said the flight path of the Russian cruise missiles, called Kalibrs, would have taken them across northern sections of Iran and Iraq en route to Syria.
Of the initial 26-missile volley, the officials said, four went awry and hit northern Iran, according to technical sources of information like satellite imagery.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military intelligence.The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military intelligence.
News of the crashes, which were reported by CNN, came as Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter sharply criticized what he called Russia’s “unprofessional” conduct in its incursion into Syria. Speaking at a NATO news conference in Brussels, Mr. Carter said that Moscow had fired the barrage of cruise missiles with no advance notice. News of the apparent crashes, which were first reported by CNN, came as Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter sharply criticized what he called Russia’s “unprofessional” conduct in its incursion into Syria. Speaking at a NATO news conference in Brussels, Mr. Carter said that Moscow had fired the barrage of cruise missiles with no advance notice.
American officials also said that some sort of mishap was to be expected, since the missiles had never been fired in wartime. American officials also said that some sort of problem with the missiles should not have been unexpected, since they had never been fired in wartime.
“This was the first operational test of these in operational conditions,” one official said of the Russian Kalibr missiles that were used. “This was the first operational test of these in operational conditions,” one official said of the Russian Kalibrs.
Mr. Carter warned, “In coming days, the Russians will begin to suffer casualties.”Mr. Carter warned, “In coming days, the Russians will begin to suffer casualties.”
An American defense official said it was something of a surprise that Russia had used cruise missiles to attack Syrian targets, given that those weapons are more commonly used in the face of heavy air defenses. Russia is allied with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, so it would presumably not face any opposition from Syrian government forces, and the rebel groups there have no air defenses. An American defense official said it was something of a surprise that Russia had used cruise missiles to attack Syrian targets, given that those weapons are more commonly used in the face of heavy air defenses.
American military officials speculated that Moscow may simply have wanted to demonstrate its cruise missile capability to the world. Russia is allied with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, so it would presumably not face any opposition from Syrian government forces. The rebel groups there that Russia has been attacking, including the Islamic State, have no air defenses.
The Iranian state news media made no immediate mention of the crashes on Thursday, but one semiofficial outlet, the Fars News Agency, noted the CNN report and called it an example of American propaganda against Russia. The agency also called it “psychological warfare.” American military officials speculated that Russia may simply have wanted to demonstrate its cruise missile capability to the world.
Iranian Twitter and Facebook users did not immediately note any explosions in the area between the Caspian Sea and the Iraqi border. In Moscow, Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian military operation in Syria, denied that any of the missiles had fallen short of their targets.
Mr. Konashenkov said sarcastically that if the reports were true, “we would have to admit that the sites of the terrorist group Islamic State in Syria, located far apart from one another, just blew up on their own.”
An Iranian official, Hamidreza Taraghi, who is close to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, laughed at the report. “This is complete nonsense,” he said.
Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency described the report as part of the West’s “psychological warfare” against the Russian-Iranian alliance with Mr. Assad.
A few social media users in Iran began linking the reported missile crashes to an explosion in northwestern Iran on Wednesday, when the official Islamic Republic News Agency, quoting the governor of the city of Takab, reported that an “unidentified flying object” had crashed in a mountainous area. That report also quoted locals as saying the explosion had broken windows in the area.