Russia deploys long range bombers to Iranian airbase

[Bleipriester]

Those bombers will need less time to reach their targets in Syria. Also, cruise missiles will be delivered to Syria using this hub.

"Currently, the strategic TU-22M3 bombers take flight from southern Russia at Modzok airfield; however, this newly signed military agreement with Iran will allow Russia to reduce flight time by 60%, saving the Kremlin both money and improving airstrike effectiveness.

The distance of these flights equal roughly 2,150km to reach a target near Palmyra. In comparison, the Hamedan Air Base in Iran is roughly 900km from Palmyra.

The Khmeimim Airbase in Latakia province – which Russia was granted access to in late 2015 – is not suitable for the massive TU-22M3, one of the largest bomber jets in the world."

Russia deploys jets at Iranian Airbase to combat insurgents in Syria (Pictures)

 

[Bleipriester]

The Russians did not lose any time and the bombers took off to bomb filthy terrorists.



Russia uses Iranian airbase to bomb ISIS, Nusra in Syria [+ video]

 

[Bleipriester]

Iran says Russian use of air base for Syria strikes over ‘for now’
It´s probabaly due to Iranian interior dissensions.

Iran says Russian use of air base for Syria strikes over 'for now'

 

[waltky]

Looks like Russia keepin' it's options open...

Iran: Russia has Stopped Using Iran Base for Syria Strikes
Aug 22, 2016 — Russia has stopped using an Iranian air base for launching airstrikes on Syria for the time being, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday, just hours after the Iranian defense minister criticized Moscow for having "kind of show-off and ungentlemanly" attitude by publicizing their actions. There was no immediate response from Moscow, which had used the Shahid Nojeh Air Base to refuel its bombers striking Syria at least three times last week.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran that the Russian airstrikes on militants in Syria were "temporary, based on a Russian request." "It is finished, for now," Ghasemi said, without elaborating. Last week, Russia announced it used the airfield, located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Iranian city of Hamedan. Iranian officials only confirmed Russia's presence a day later. Earlier Monday, state TV quoted Iran's defense minister as saying that Russia "will use the base for a very short and fixed span." The comments by Gen. Hossein Dehghan came after he chastised parliament this weekend for asking questions about Russia using the base.

Responding to a question about why Iran didn't initially announce Russia's presence at the airfield, Dehghan appeared prickly on the state TV broadcast. "Russians are interested to show they are a superpower to guarantee their share in political future of Syria and, of course, there has been a kind of show-off and ungentlemanly (attitude) in this field," he said. His remarks also suggest Russia and Iran initially agreed to keep Moscow's use of the air base quiet. Its announcement likely worried Iran's Sunni-ruled Mideast neighbors, which host American military personnel.

A Russian long range bomber Tu-22M3 flies during an air strike over the Aleppo region of Syria.​

For Iran, allowing Russia to launch strikes from inside the country is likely to prove unpopular. Many still remember how Russia, alongside Britain, invaded and occupied Iran during World War II to secure oil fields and Allied supply lines. But while Britain withdrew, Russia refused to leave, sparking the first international rebuke by the nascent United Nations Security Council in 1946. Analysts have suggested Russia potentially leveraged Iran into allowing it to use the airfield over either economic or military interests, such as Tehran wanting to purchase Sukhoi-30 fighter jets or its deployment of Russian S-300 air defense missile systems. Russia initially held off on supplying the missile system to Tehran amid negotiations over Iran's contested nuclear program.

Over the weekend, photographs of President Hassan Rouhani were published in Iranian state media near a Bavar-373 missile defense system. That system is designed to be the local equivalent of the S-300 — perhaps an Iranian signal back to Moscow that it's capable of defending itself without the Russian missile system. In his comments Monday, Dehghan said the Bavar-373 can hit targets at the height of 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) — the same height the S-300 can reach. "When we make Bavar-373 operational, we will not need to purchase another high-altitude and long-range air defense system," he said.

Iran: Russia has Stopped Using Iran Base for Syria Strikes | Military.com

See also:

Russia says future use of Iran air base depends on Syria circumstances
Mon Aug 22, 2016 - The Russian military said on Monday its aircraft operating from an Iranian air base to conduct strikes in Syria had completed their tasks, but left open the possibility of using the Hamadan base again if circumstances warranted.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Russia had stopped using the base for strikes in Syria, bringing an abrupt halt to an unprecedented deployment that was criticized both by the White House and by some Iranian lawmakers. "Russian military aircraft that took part in the operation of conducting air strikes from Iran's Hamadan air base on terrorist targets in Syria have successfully completed all tasks," a Russian Defence Ministry spokesman, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said in a statement. "Further use of the Hamadan air base in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Russian Aerospace Forces will be carried out on the basis of mutual agreements to fight terrorism and depending on the prevailing circumstances in Syria," Konashenkov said.

Last week, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used Nojeh air base, near the city of Hamadan, in north-west Iran to launch air strikes against armed groups in Syria. It was the first time a foreign power had used an Iranian base since World War Two. Russia and Iran are both providing crucial military support to President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and jihadi fighters in Syria's five-year-old conflict.

A Russian Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber based at Iran's Hamadan air base dropping off bombs in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor​

Some Iranian lawmakers called the move a breach of Iran's constitution which forbids "the establishment of any kind of foreign military base in Iran, even for peaceful purposes". Iranian Defence Minister Hossein Dehghan dismissed that criticism but also chided Moscow for publicizing the move, describing it as showing off and a "betrayal of trust." "We have not given any military base to the Russians and they are not here to stay," Dehghan was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency late on Sunday.

He said there was "no written agreement" between the two countries and the "operational cooperation" was temporary and limited to refueling. The U.S. State Department, which last week called the move "unfortunate but not surprising" and said it was studying if it violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that bars supply, sale and transfer of combat aircraft to Iran, said that it was unclear if Moscow's use of the base had "definitively stopped."

ABRUPT END

 

[Bleipriester]

Russian flights from Iranian base not suspended: Iranian official

"“The flights haven’t been suspended. Iran and Russia are allies in the fight against terrorism,” Larijani said. He added that Iran’s Shahid Nojeh air base in Hamedan is only “used for refueling,” not for permanent deployment.

The speaker responded to last week’s statement of MP Mahmud Sadeghi that 20 lawmakers had sent a letter to the parliament’s presidium demanding explanations about the use of the airbase. “The request will be certainly considered,” Larijani said."
Russian flights from Iranian base not suspended: Iranian official