UPDATE 1245 GMT: The Russian Ambassador to Iran has confirmed that Moscow’s warplanes have left the Hamedan airbase.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: Only a week after Russia announced its use of an airbase in western Iran for operations across northern Syria, Tehran has said that it is terminating the agreement.

Foreign Minister Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi issued the announcement on Monday, amid growing internal criticism:

Qassemi said Russia’s attacks last week — nominally against the Islamic State and the jihadists of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, but also against opposition-held areas — were “with our prior notice and our permission, in the fight against terrorism”.

However, he added that Russia does not have a base in Iran, nor has it deployed warplanes: “That was an issue which took place and has finished for now.”

A Problem with “Strategic Cooperation”

In the last 48 hours, the initial proclamation by Iranian officials of “strategic cooperation” with Moscow has given way to Tehran’s accusations of a betrayal of trust by Moscow.

Russia began operations on August 15 from the Hamedan base in western Iran, with Tu22-33M “Backfire” long-range bombers and Su-34 tactical bombers carrying out missions. However, MPs protested that the Russian use of the base violated the Islamic Republic’s Constitution, which prohibits any foreign military presence in the country.

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani had to respond, “Iran and Russia enjoy close views on the solution to the crisis of terrorism in the region and [have] close cooperation, but no military base has been granted to Russia or any other country at all.”

This did not stem the objections, with 20 MPs filing a formal complaint. So on Saturday, Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan revised the regime’s public position, saying that the Russian warplanes were not “deployed” at the Hamedan base but merely using it as a “stopover”.

See Iran Daily, August 21: Regime Steps Back on Russian Use of Airbase for Syrian Operations

The Minister soon went farther, as Kasra Naji of the BBC noted:

Russian State media, which hailed the airstrikes as a significant advance in Moscow’s military intervention, have offered no comment on the shift in Iranian position.