MOSCOW, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the situation in Syria over the phone Tuesday evening, said the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The two diplomats discussed the situation in Aleppo, where the Syrian government forces are carrying out a large-scale humanitarian operation with Russian support, the ministry said in a statement.
They discussed in detail preparations for implementing the agreement reached during Kerry's visit to Moscow on July 15 that called for coordinating efforts to combat terrorist groups in Syria and ensuring the cessation of hostilities, the statement added.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday the deployment of Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 strike fighters in Iran.
Flying with a full bomb load from the Hamedan air base in Iran, the warplanes on Tuesday conducted a group air strike against targets of the Islamic State and Jabhat Fath al-Sham terrorists in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Dayr al-Zawr and Idlib, the Defense Ministry added.
