MP admits Iran allowed Russia to use air base for Syria raids

TEHRAN: A prominent Iranian lawmaker confirmed on Wednesday that Russia is using an Iranian air base for airstrikes in Syria, as Moscow said another wave of airstrikes launched from the Islamic Republic struck the east of the war-ravaged country.

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The comments by Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, are the first official acknowledgment that Russian planes are flying out of Iran’s Shahid Nojeh Air Base.

Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign minister rejected allegations that its use of Iranian military bases for airstrikes in Syria violates United Nations sanctions on Iran.

Russia on Tuesday first announced that it had launched the strikes from near the Iranian city of Hamedan and struck targets in three provinces in northern and eastern Syria.

It is virtually unheard in recent history for Iran to allow a foreign power to use one of its bases to stage attacks.

Russia has also never used the territory of another country in the Middle East for its operations inside Syria, where it has been carrying out an aerial campaign in support of President Bashar Assad’s government for nearly a year. Iran is also a major supporter of Assad.

But Iran parliament speaker Ali Larijani stressed on Wednesday that Russia does not have a permanent military base within the Islamic Republic .

However,he added: “We have good cooperation with Russia and we say it loud and clear.”