But the US State Department said it was “unclear” whether Russia’s use of the base had “definitely stopped” after calling the move “unfortunate but not suprising”.
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Russia’s fighter jets have not halted flights from an Iranian airbase into Syria to pound militants, Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani said on Tuesday. “The Iranian MoD is planning to conduct negotiations with Russian Federation over the acquisition of Sukhoi combat aircraft”.
Iran and Russian Federation are key backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.
Shamkhani went on to stress that coordinating capacities of one of the most powerful air forces in the world for defending innocent Syrian people against threats that could also endanger Iran’s national security, indicates the Islamic Republic’s initiative and political and military authority.
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman on Monday denied any differences with Russia over the use of Hamedan, adding that Russian raids from Iranian territory had ended for now.
Iran’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) is planning to start negotiations with Russian Federation over the acquisition of Sukhoi combat aircraft, Iranian Defense Minister, Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan said in an interview to an Iranian TV channel on August 22. He said there was “no written agreement” between the two countries and the “operational cooperation” was temporary and limited to refuelling. “They did this (operation) and it is finished for now”, Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
The new form of military cooperation with Russian Federation serves to increase Iran’s peripheral security, political commentator, foreign relations director of the Islamic Coalition Party Hamidreza Taraqi said. “This means Russian Federation will be able to implement its plans in cooperation with Iran, which enjoys authorization by the Supreme National Security Council, to use an Iranian airbase for refueling its aircraft”, Taraqi noted. “They just don’t want the world to know that they are contributing to the deaths of thousands of Syrian civilians”, said the USA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Relations between Iran and Russia, long cordial, appeared to reach a new level last September when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military intervention in Syria in support of Assad. The decision from Iran came within days after Russian Federation went public about the use of one of Tehran’s airbase in Hamadan. The State Departmnet also stated that it was studying if it violated a UN Security Council resolution that bars the supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran.
