Aug 16, 2016

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, spoke to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) Aug. 16 about the security and military developments in the region and Iran’s growing relationship with Russia.

“Cooperation between Tehran and Moscow to fight terrorism in Syria is strategic, and in this field we exchange capacities and resources,” said Shamkhani. While Shamkhani did not address this, Russian officials confirmed Aug. 16 that Russia used an air base in Iran to launch airstrikes against Syrian militants Aug. 16.

The use of the Hamedan air base by Russian long-range Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bombers marks both the first time that Russia has used another country other than Syria to launch airstrikes against the Syrian opposition and reportedly the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that Iran has allowed a foreign power to use its territory for military operations.

According to Russian media reports, the air base in western Iran was used to launch strikes against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda targets in Aleppo, Idlib and Deir ez-Zor.

In the interview with IRNA, Shamkhani suggested that cooperation, such as the use of the air base, is a sign of further cooperation rather than an exceptional situation. “With constructive and widespread cooperation between Russia, Iran, Syria and the resistance front [Hezbollah], the situation for terrorists has become very difficult, and with new operations, this process will continue until their complete destruction,” said Shamkhani.