Friday , 29 March 2024

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Says Russia Continues To Use Iranian Base

RFL/RE – Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani says Russian warplanes are still using an Iranian military base to strike targets in Syria.

Larijani made the comment a day after an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Russia’s use of an air base in Hamadan had ended “for now.”

Speaking at a session of the parliament on August 23, Larijani suggested Russian bombers were still using the military base in Hamadan.

“It hasn’t stopped,” he said, adding that Tehran and Moscow were united in their “fight against terrorism.”

Tehran and Moscow are supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom they have helped remain in power.

“We haven’t given a base in Hamadan to Russi. The taking off and landing has been for refueling,” Larijani was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

The U.S. State Department said on August 22 that it was not clear whether Russia’s use of the base had actually stopped.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a briefing that the United States was closely monitoring the cooperation between Russia and Iran and “it’s not clear to us…whether their use of this air base has definitively stopped.”

Based on reporting by ISNA and IRNA

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