A bold assertion of their deepening friendship came a few days back when Iran let Russian Federation use its Shahid Nojeh airbase near Hamedan to launch airstrikes on terrorists in Syria.
Advertisement
In response to the MP’s comments, Ali Larijai underlined that Russian jets are still carrying out military missions from the Iranian airbase; “Iran holds cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism and the alliance between the two countries would benefit Muslims in the region”.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Monday that Russian Federation has now stopped using the air base.
It is illegal under Iran’s constitution to give military bases to foreign armies.
Iran and Russian Federation are key backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but Tehran has remained relatively guarded about its precise involvement in the conflict.
Iran is actively developing its own missile defenses (Bavar-373) in addition to purchasing Russian systems.
Earlier Monday, state TV quoted Iran’s defense minister as saying that Russian Federation “will use the base for a very short and fixed span”.
“Russians are interested to show they are a superpower to guarantee their share in political future of Syria and, of course, there has been a kind of show-off and ungentlemanly (attitude) in this field”, he said.
Toner last week criticized Russia’s use of the Iranian base, though he acknowledged that Moscow gave a brief advance warning before conducting raids from the base. Dehghan “should have observed the ethics of governing”, Larijani said.
Maziar Behrooz, a history professor at San Francisco State University and an expert on Iran-Russia relations, said Iran’s withdrawal of permission, at the very least, signaled “a lack of coordination between the Iranians and Russians” over how – or even whether – the deal would remain secret.
“These planes did not leave (Monday) but on Thursday, in accordance with the land operations and not under pressure from any other country”, Shamkhani said on state television.
Iran has also discussed with Russia the production licensing of the Russian T-90 tank inside Iran.
“Russia has no base in Iran and is not stationed here”.
Advertisement
“In accordance with the request issued by the Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, the intercept of a simulated ballistic missile will be the first test”. The United States has said it would use its veto power in the United Nations’ Security Council to block the possible sales of the fighter jets to Iran.
