On August 16, it was announced that Iran had accommodated Russian bombers at one of its western air bases to help Russia’s air raids on Syrian terrorists. The firing of Russian cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea in November 2015, for example, would not have been possible without Tehran allowing the use of Iranian airspace. This move sends multiple messages to local and global adversaries of Iran and Russian Federation.
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Key takeaway: Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan apologized for criticizing some parliamentarians’ request to review Russia’s use of an Iranian base to launch airstrikes in Syria.
The quality of Russian helicopters is good and Iran has been purchasing choppers from Russia for years, he added, saying the Russian aircraft are used by the Iranian Armed Forces and the Police.
The AP suggests that there may have been an agreement between the two governments not to make public the use of Hamadan by Russian troops, hence the irritation with Russia’s boasting: “Dehghan’s remarks also suggest Russia and Iran initially agreed to keep Moscow’s use of the air base quiet”. No foreign power has used Iran’s soil and territories as a base for military operations since the second World War. In the nuclear field for example, Iran has repeatedly accused the Russians of being unreliable. From Washington’s standpoint, theoretically still pushing for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to leave (five years after President Obama made that declaration), a closer relationship between Moscow and Tehran means greater violence on the ground in Syria, more civilian casualties, more health centers and hospitals destroyed, and more time for Assad to consolidate his territorial gains, press his offensive in Aleppo, and make United Nations special envoy Staffan de Mistura’s life even more miserable.
Last week, Russian Federation announced that its Tu-22M3 bombers carried out combat missions in Syria from Iran’s Hamadan airfield.
However, Moscow was forced to publicly acknowledge its presence in Hamadan. High-ranking officials responded that the use of Hamedan air base was strictly for refueling purposes, while other officials assured the media that Russian planes would remain in Iran temporarily.
Again Dehghan, who apparently lives in a parallel universe, insisted the Americans were trespassing because, he said, Iranian boats only patrol in Iranian waters. The severity of those political costs will be even more apparent if these flights do not resume. This may well be true.
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Although Iran might appear to be sending a message to its rivals that Russian Federation is still with Iran rather than with them, the revelation of this military deal by Moscow is a considered a blow to the Islamic Republic’s nationalistic slogan of “independence”. But closer Iranian-Russian cooperation on Syria also puts to rest the optimism from some in the Obama administration that Tehran would partially moderate its behavior in the region after the signing of the nuclear agreement last summer. Russian and Iranian motivations on Syria differ, but the means have become more compatible. But the fact that it happened at all was sure to have raised eyebrows in Riyadh, Ankara and Washington. He earned a Ph.D.in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982.
