For Russia’s part, its decision to use the Shahid Nojeh military airbase in western Iran underscores its calculation that bolstering its almost year-long overt military intervention – which began dramatically with Russia airstrikes launched from a base in the Syrian coastal town of Latakia – can help tip the battlefield in Assad’s favor.
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Last week, Russian Federation announced that its Tu-22M3 bombers carried out combat missions in Syria from Iran’s Hamadan airfield. Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
But the Iranian regime said Russian Federation had been using the base for months and decided last week to make its presence public.
The use of Hamedan significantly shortened flight-times for Russian warplanes, allowing them to carry increased firepower.
With a history of meddling by Western powers, Iran guards its sovereignty closely.
Dehghan added that Iran still sees the Sukhoi-30 as “an appropriate fighting aircraft”, though he acknowledged the USA could seek to block any fighter jet deal.
As colonial powers jostled for control over resources in the early 20th century, Russian Federation and the United Kingdom agreed to split Iran into areas of influence. But while Britain withdrew, Russian Federation refused to leave, sparking the first worldwide rebuke by the nascent United Nations Security Council in 1946.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Iranian parliamentary committee on foreign policy and national security Alaeddin Boroujerdi said that Russian military aircraft in Iran are only allowed to refuel at the Hamadan airbase in accordance with existing agreements.
Iran’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) is considering to negotiate with Russian Federation over acquisition of Sukhoi S-300 and Bavar-373 air defense systems.
Dehghan’s comments made on Monday contradicts what the minister said last Saturday about the Russian use of the base and his hints that Russia would be permitted to use other bases when needed.
A Russian analyst of the Middle East, Yuri Barmin, posted on Twitter that it was clear the base was “a temporary arrangement due to logistical difficulties” but added that the termination “was too quick”.
The spat raised questions about the prospect of proposed US-Russia cooperation on fighting ISIS and Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham, formerly known al Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, the Nusra front.
“Russia has no base in Iran nor has it deployed (its fighter jets) in our country”.
The request coincides with naval exercises, which also started Monday, of the Caspian Flotilla in the “southwest part of the sea”, i.e. the part closest to Syria.
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A Syrian Kurdish news agency says clashes have erupted again in the northern Syrian city of Hasakeh between Kurdish fighters and Syrian pro-government militias.
