World cannot afford to ignore the dire straits in the Middle East

The Russian decision to deploy bombers and fighter aircraft from its base in Iran to strike at Syrian rebels has added another knot to the tangled conflicts that afflict the region.

Moscow revealed last week that Russian Su-34 warplanes took off from an airbase in Iran's western Hamadan region, closer to Islamic State targets than its base in northern Syria, to launch its strikes. Of course,…