Iranian officials have announced that Russia has stopped using the Hamedan Air Base, in western Iran, to conduct airstrikes in Syria, saying the deployment was only ever meant to be temporary. Russia confirmed their planes had all left Iran.
The base only began being used last week, and was seen as a major win for Russia’s air war, as the Iran base supporters larger planes than their own bases inside Syria, and was much closer than flying them from Russia directly.
Indications are that this is at least in part the result of Iranian annoyance at Russia for publicizing the use of the air base. Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan had slammed Russia for its “showing-off and inconsiderate attitude” in making the announcement.
Russian officials had never said how long they intended to use the base initially, but certainly gave the impression that this was to be a long-term matter, and not something they did over a long weekend before transitioning back out of the country.
