Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran on Monday that the strikes were “temporary, based on a Russian request” and were “carried out with “mutual understanding and with Iran’s permission”, according to The Associated Press”.
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“Russia has no base in Iran and is not stationed here”.
“In the next days our team will meet this week, and depending on where those discussions go, it is very possible, very likely, that Foreign Minister (Sergei) Lavrov and I would meet”, he said.
Russian Air Force warplanes have left the base in Iran from which they last week bombed terrorist targets in Syria.
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The move was criticised both at home, in Iran, and by the worldwide community, including the US.
Russian Federation was “inconsiderate” and “keen to show off as a superpower” by disclosing its use of the Hamadan base for the missions, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said on state-run Channel 2 television late Sunday.
The operations from Iran’s air base started on August 16 as confirmed by the Russian Defence Ministry and Iranian officials.
Perhaps just as significantly, the high-profile move allows both nations to ease their isolation, imposed by the United States and the West, while spreading their regional influence through the use of hard power.
“In the case of using Iranian territory by Russian military aircraft, we should proceed from the annex to [UN Security Council] Resolution 2231, which sets out regulatory measures of arms supplies to Iran”.
Also on Monday, Iran unveiled its new missile defense system, Bavar 373, which is created to intercept cruise missiles, drones, combat aircraft, and ballistic missiles. Moscow and Tehran said the deployment had achieved its goals.
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This report contains material from Reuters.
