U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday talks between the United States and Russian Federation on military cooperation in the fight against Islamic State in Syria were nearing an end, with technical teams meeting this week to discuss details.
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“But that decision has to be made on the basis of where we are in the next couple of days”. Iranian officials only confirmed Russia’s presence a day later.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also hints at a Russian return, saying Moscow will stop using the base for the time being.
He said the Russian mission “is finished, for now” and that Russia “has no base in Iran”.
Ghasemi left open the possibility of Russian Federation utilising the Hamedan base in the future, saying it would depend on “the situation in the region, and according to our permission”.
On Monday, state TV quoted Dehghan as saying that Russian Federation “will use the base for a very short and fixed span, corresponding (to) operation in Syria”.
After some delay, Russian Federation supplied Iran with its S-300 missile air defence system, evidence of a growing partnership that is testing US influence in the Middle East.
Over the weekend, photographs of President Hassan Rouhani were published in Iranian state media near a Bavar-373 missile defense system. That system is created to be the local equivalent of the S-300 – perhaps an Iranian signal back to Moscow that it’s capable of defending itself without the Russian missile system.
“When we make Bavar-373 operational, we will not need to purchase another high-altitude and long-range air defense system”, he said. The U.N. resolution enshrining last year’s nuclear deal with Iran prohibits the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran unless approved in advance by the Security Council.
Iran’s defence minister also said Tehran has shown interest in buying Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and Moscow’s reply “has not been negative so far”.
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The two countries oppose calls for Assad to step down as a way of resolving the conflict, which began as a mostly unarmed uprising against Assad in March 2011, but quickly escalated into a full-blown civil war involving opposition groups and the regime as well as several foreign governments backing opposite sides.
