Contrary to claims, no Russian plane and or fleet has been deployed in the
airbase and they use it for fueling and taking off toward Syria,” he told
reporters.
Def. Min.: Second airbase would be provided for Russia
News ID: 3746284 - Sat 20 August 2016 - 13:25
http://en.mehrnews.com/news/119069/Second-airbase-would-be-provided-for-Russia

TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) – Defense minister has told a press conference on
Saturday Iran would provide a second airbase to Russia if situation demands,
as a measure in the framework of quadrilateral deal to fight ISIL.

Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan attended a long press conference to cover almost
all issues in the region including Iran’s providing of an airbase to Russia
whence Russian fighter jets would take off to target and destroy ISIL
strongholds in Syria. This is an alternative to missiles fired from Russian
submarines in the Caspian Sea which traversed Iran’s airspace, thus covering
longer distance to reach targets in Syria.

Russia and S-300 dominated the press conference where Mr. Dehghan underlined
that the act would advance the cause of the Resistance front and Syrian
government in the fight with ISIL and other terrorist groups. He
categorically defended the measure in Nojh airbase in Hamedan as
conventional by international standards of warfare. The act has incited
criticism by Iran’s archenemy Saudi Arabia and the US; however, in Tehran
the situation is seen quite differently, and it is probable that as Mr.
Dehghan told the press, a second airbase would be already present for
Russian planes to take off from.

Defense minister also announced that S-300 had been received as completed
package. Earlier this month, an Iranian official had told reporters that
part of S-300 missile system had been delivered to Iran’s Defense Ministry.
Now, Mr. Dehghan ensures the completion of a great project and also a great
deal between Iran and Russia where the former even resorted to International
Court of Justice when the latter faltered in her commitment to deliver S-300
earlier in 2015; Mr. Dehghan highlighted the priorities of receiving S-300
as strategic and which would provide Iran with a modern defensive advanced
system and with one which create a balance in the region in terms of
defensive capabilities.

Dehghan however said that apart from strategic S-300, Iran’s indigenous
defensive industry had produced Bavar 373 which he said enjoyed capabilities
very similar to S-300; he ruled out ‘reverse engineering’ of the Russian
system accordingly.

On a question of recent Turkish shift of alliance, Mr. Dehghan believed that
Turkey was attempting to expiate her past errors in its regional policies;
he believed that a triangle of Saudi-American-Israeli alliance had been
working to systematically weaken the Resistance in the region, however,
after Islamic Awakening which swept North Africa and much of the Arab world
of the Middle East, a coalition was formed where Iran spearheaded the real
fight against ISIL, and later Russia followed the suit in joining the
coalition; now with Turkey’s turning to Moscow, it was possible for Turkey
to redress for her past misguided and hostile policies toward Syria and to
join the collation, Mr. Dehghan further added.

He condemned the so-called triangle’s measures totally undermining the
situation in Syria; “pragmatism and reappraisal of policies would help some
of countries with affiliations with the triangle change positions in line
with their own expediencies,” he told the press. “Turkey was a major
stronghold of Takfiri terrorists for the most part of the crisis in Syria;
Turkey supported their attempts to topple President Assad and to establish
their own version of Islamic state there; however, recent events in Turkey
was a boon for AK Party leaders to accurately see the scene only to come to
a dark conclusion about their havoc wrought upon Syria by terrorists landing
in Turkish airports from Europe and elsewhere,” he emphasized.

On Yemeni question, defense minister believed that Saudi military had been
largely a paper tiger relying heavily on US weapons; even armed to the
teeth, they had been completely defeated by Yemenis fighting with bare
hands.

On a question of the situation in West Bank, Dehghan ensured Iranian support
for any effort by Palestinians in their legitimate defense against Zionists;
“we should wait and see what Palestinians would do in the West Bank; in any
situation, Iran will support the initiative,” he told the press.

Dehghan rejected the allegations that Iran had provided for Russians an
airbase and the speculations by the media that it would undermine Iranian
constitution; “this is a convention in international community that allied
countries help each other in times of need; with Iran a partner in Syria, we
would help Russia a second airbase and no deadline would be set for the
activity in the airbase. Contrary to claims, no Russian plane and or fleet
has been deployed in the airbase and they use it for fueling and taking off
toward Syria,” he told reporters.

SH/3745920