Russia reportedly suddenly have stopped using the airfield Hamadan in Iran for attack missions against ISIS and other groups in Syria. Iran says that the use of foreign military bases by not justified, but Russia calls its own reasons.
Russian Defense Ministry said their forces withdrawn from Hamadan for Russian aircraft engaged in air strikes against ISIS is considered to have successfully completed their task.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said Monday, August 22, 2016 further use of airfields Hamadan for anti-terrorist missions in Syria Russia will be carried out in accordance with a bilateral agreement with the Islamic Republic and developments in the field.
“Military aircraft of Russia who took part in the air strikes from the air base Hamadan Iran on terrorist targets in Syria has successfully completed all tasks. At present, all the planes Forces Aerospace are involved in the mission had been withdrawn to Russia,” he told reporters as quoted Sputnik.
“Continued use of the air base Hamadan in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Russian Aerospace Forces will be conducted on the basis of a joint agreement to combat terrorism and depending on the situation that took place in Syria,” said Konashenkov.
Iran’s foreign ministry earlier said that the use of the base by Russia has ended.
“Russia does not have a base in Iran and was not deployed here. They do [operation] and ended unuk this time,” said Bahram Qasemi told the news agency Tasnim.
In the past week, a number of Russia’s bombers, Tu-22M3 and Sukhoi-34, using Nojeh air base, near the city of Hamadan, western Iran, to launch air strikes against a number of armed groups in Syria.
It was the first time a foreign power to use air bases Iran since the Second World War. Russia and Iran of providing military aid vital to President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and hardline fighters in the Syrian war, which has been running for five years.
Some Iranian lawmakers called the moves as leakage Iranian constitution, which prohibits “the establishment of any foreign military base in Iran, even for peaceful purposes”.
Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan deny the criticism but also offend Moscow for informing the movements, and called it a show-off and a “betrayal of trust”.
“We do not give any military base to the Russians and they are not here to stay,” said Dehghan was quoted as saying by Fars news agency on Sunday night.
He said that “there is no written agreement” between the two countries and “operational cooperation” are only temporary and limited to refueling only.
United States Department of State last week calling the move “unfortunate but not surprising” and said that they were studying whether it violates the resolution 2231 of the UN Security Council, which prohibits the supply, trade and transfer of fighter aircraft to Iran.
