The Iranian base of Hamadan was used by the Russian Federation with the goal of strengthening the Russian Air Forces air group in the Syrian state. The exact start date for the use of the airfield is November 23, 2015. It periodically housed Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 front-line aircraft.
What did Russia allow on August 20, 2016, Iran? Hamadan Base began to use our pilots indefinitely in order to inflict air strikes on ISIS units. Not even a week had passed after the military began to use the air base, so from Tehran an official statement followed that the use of the airfield by Russia would be stopped. This information was officially confirmed by the Kremlin and the Russian Embassy in Iran. Although the statement of the Islamic Republic was unexpected and exposed Russia from an unflattering side, the response was restrained.
Soon, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani denied the cessation of flights, announcing that Russian pilots continue to use the air base.
Why was Hamadan needed?
Russian media have repeatedly said that this base is extremely important for our country. Why did Iran provide an airfield? The Hamadan base simplified military operations in Syria from the air, and also helped to increase their effectiveness many times over.
Recall that a large Russian air base is located in Mozdok at a distance of 2.5 thousand kilometers. So why is the base of Hamadan attractive? The Russian Aerospace Forces took off from Hamadan, located 800-900 kilometers from the intended target, which provided significant fuel savings in favor of ammunition. As a result, the combat load increased 4 times.
The fact that Hamadan will become a completely Russian base, similar to the Syrian Heimim with security and technical personnel from our citizens, was not even discussed. The airfield remained under the leadership of Iran. In fact, he did not even act as a base, but as a jump airfield, where Russian aircraft were given the opportunity to refuel and carry out minor repairs.
When was the base tested?
The first test of Hamadan was carried out in 2015, when the Russian Su-34 bomber landed at the airport to carry out repairs. The plane was at the base for two days, during which it was fixed by technicians who arrived there from Russia. Why is the news that Russian planes take off from Hamadan so excited Iran?
What does the Foreign Ministry of Iran say about this?
Why did Russia leave the Hamadan base? The representative of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in his address emphasized that the agreement between Iran and Russia was temporary.
The diplomat also emphasized that attacks on ISIS extremist formations by Russian planes were carried out exclusively with the permission of Iran.
Earlier, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan criticized Russian colleagues for divulging secret information about the use of Hamadan by the Russian Air Force.
Sensitive question
The diplomatic relations of Iran and Russia have been going on for many centuries. However, they can hardly be called simple. The Iranians have many claims to our country. Resentments accumulated over a long period of time are firmly seated in national self-consciousness.
Over the past century, the Russian state has repeatedly intervened in the internal affairs of Persia. Until 1917, our country intervened three times, and during World War II, Russia, together with England, carried out a total occupation of the state. Large claims have accumulated not only against the northern neighbor. Iran for many years in the international political arena played the role of an object, not a subject. The country suffered a lot of suffering due to the dismantling of major powers.
As a result, after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, all foreign advisers from the country were expelled, and the absence of foreign military units on the territory of the state became a fundamental position.
According to Nikolai Kozhanov, a professor at the European University at St. Petersburg, the prohibition of foreign troops into the country has been promoted in Iran for 37 years. And suddenly, what step is Iran taking? The base of Hamadan is becoming the seat of Russian military bombers. Tehran made an ambiguous decision, as a result of which the majority of the population had a logical question: what about our sovereignty policy?
At the same time, there are a lot of opponents of the presence of Russian troops in the country. Basically, they join the ranks of the reformist movement. Conservative citizens, by contrast, are making every effort to dampen this wave of discontent. For them, the help of the Russian troops in Syria is of great importance.
How did the government and ordinary citizens of the state of Iran react to the incident? The Hamadan base has been discussed for a long time on online forums. This question has become very painful. Forum participants openly expressed their dissatisfaction, commentators constantly reminded of Russia's insidious policy, and government officials tried to tame the raging debate.
Political games
The tensions of the Iranian authorities are understandable. There is an ongoing ongoing struggle between a liberal political elite led by President Rouhani and a conservative party, one of whose ideological leaders is the former president of the republic, Ahmadinejad. The Conservative Party is supported by representatives of the Iranian clergy and most of the officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
The members of these two currents have diametrically opposite views. Liberals believe that the actions of Russian troops in Syria brought very little fruit, our country could do more. They want Russia to bring Tehran a quick victory in Syria.
According to a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Vladimir Sazhin, conservatives express confidence that the actions of Russian troops in Syria are highly effective. This undermines the political position of Iran, for which Syria is the only official union state in the world. Therefore, Iran expresses its discontent in relation to Russia. The Islamic state does not quite like the strengthening of our country's position in the Middle East region.
In May 2017, presidential elections will be held in Iran. The conflict over such infrastructure as the Hamadan military base was a key feature in the intense political struggle in the capital.
According to Aleksey Fenenko, a leading researcher at the Institute for International Security Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, two parties are fighting in Iran, one of which promotes rapprochement with the West in the hope that economic sanctions will be lifted, and the other believes that nothing from rapprochement will change and relations with By Russia.
Iran’s defense minister belongs to the first political group. According to many Russian political scientists, America will apply countermeasures to Russia and announce that our country is cooperating with Shiites against Sunnis.
The share of guilt lies with Russia
A large share of responsibility for everything that happened in Iran lies with the Kremlin itself. Moscow hastened to make a report on the country's political success in obtaining a new base. The fact is that, referring to Hamadan, representatives of the Russian authorities often gave out wishful thinking. Undoubtedly, Russia wanted to have an additional military base on the territory of Iran, where Russian military personnel, as well as technicians and specialists in the field of aviation, would serve. However, Tehran was clearly not ready for such a turn of events. The very idea of such a development of events plunged many Iranian citizens into indignation.
Is America to blame for the misunderstanding?
When Iran officially announced that the Hamadan base would not be handed over to Russia, the political experts of our country immediately began to blame America for what happened. Political scientist Kozhanov believes that the reason is completely different. Russia wanted to get a second Khmeimim in the East, even if the base would operate within a restrictive framework. The Iranians tried to get off small, giving Russian military aircraft the right to refuel and repair, but no more. The idea of a jump airfield could well be sold to the Iranian population, but in fact there was no longer a full-fledged base.
According to many experts in the field of politics, Moscow should have weighed the pros and cons, taking into account the specifics of Iranian politics and not allowing itself to publicly say that our country has created a new air base. Such statements were heard from some Russian parliamentarians, either because of a misunderstanding of the situation, or because of reigning euphoria from a political victory.
Why did Russian politicians decide to make the secret public?
According to Sazhin, the fact that Russia decided to build a PR company from the deployment of its military aircraft in Iran caused a wave of discontent among Iranian military officials.
Undoubtedly, in the days of satellite tracking, any strategic Russian bomber flying in the air would have been recorded immediately, and the results of intelligence reported to the Pentagon and NATO headquarters.
The Russian expert believes that all countries would recognize that Russian fighters use Hamadan, but no one would say anything. This situation would suit many. The mistake of our country lies in the fact that the authorities too brightly advertised the presence of Russian pilots in Iran. On the other hand, Iran’s act can hardly be called correct. First, it permits the basing of aircraft, and then sharply prohibits. The Islamic State has inflicted tremendous damage on the image of Russia.
What do the representatives of the Russian generals say about the incident
According to Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov, the former head of the main department for international cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Defense , Hamadan air base was used in the strict framework of a specific agreement between the presidents of Russia and Iran. It would be wrong to draw hasty conclusions about the fact that Russia leased the Hamadan base. It was used for joint operations with Iran as a jump airfield. The aircraft completed their military tasks and returned to the points of permanent deployment. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that the use of the database is suspended, no. According to Colonel-General, there was no point in continuing bombers to base in Hamadan. Even temporary dislocation requires a lot of money.
According to Ivashov, the fact that Iran took Russia's statements about its bases as a demonstration was fundamentally wrong. This position is caused by some misunderstanding. But the military stressed that Iran has the right to be dissatisfied with a public presentation of the presence of Russian air forces on their basis.
How will events develop further?
It is very difficult to talk about what turn the further development of events will take. The official statement made by Larijani, as well as the response statements of our diplomats inspire a fair amount of optimism.
According to political scientist Vladimir Sazhin, the Kremlin reacted very softly to the sharp demarche of the Iranian defense minister, explaining the termination of the presence of Russian pilots by the fact that the term for using the Hamadan base has expired since the mission of military pilots has been completed. This was a sign that Moscow did not pursue the goal of breaking off diplomatic relations with Iran or somehow worsening them. Although, no doubt, an unpleasant aftertaste from this story will remain with both states.
According to the expert, this incident will not have a significant impact on the development of bilateral relations between the countries. At present, our country is actively searching for ways to establish contact with Iran. The possibility of expanding military cooperation with the Islamic state is being considered. How will the Russia-Iran relations develop? The base of Hamadan, possibly, will be used by Russian troops in the future as a place of temporary deployment.
Currently, the Iranian Foreign Ministry notes that the use of Hamadan was an authorized mission that has been completed. The official representative Bahram Gasemi does not exclude the possibility that in the future Russian pilots will be able to fly from Iran, but all will depend on the general situation in the country.