While the granting of the use of the Iranian airbase in Hamedan to the Russian Aerospace forces was greeted with a lot of coverage, the recent departure from Hamedan of the Russian Tu-22M3 has attracted much less attention. The official Russian line on this was very neutral, as shown by this article in Sputnik.
What really took place, however, deserves some further scrutiny.
First, it should be said that the Russians had been using that airbase for a quite a while already, but that the deal between Russia and Iran had been kept secret. According to Russian sources, it appears that the Iranians were completely surprised when this information was made public and that some factions inside the ruling elites of Iran were outraged at what they saw as a public admission of a compromise of Iranian sovereignty. First, it was the Iranian Defense Minister, Hossein Dehghan, who expressed his outrage at what he saw was a Russian leak made without Iranian agreement. According to Dehghan, the Russians wanted to show that they were an influential superpower and that is why they made that information public. Soon after that, both the Iranian Foreign Ministry and the Russian ambassador to Tehran confirmed that the Russians had left Hamedan and that they would only come back when the two countries would agree to their return.
However, there might be more to this than meet the eye.
According to the same Russian sources, what might be taking place is an internal struggle between different Iranian factions, specifically the Iranian armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Russians believe that the website which initially released this information, Warfare Worldwide, is linked to the Iranian Armed Forces who, according to the Russians, leaked this info (and pictures) through Warfare Worldwide in order to embarrass the Iranian government. Once this information was made public, the Russians had to confirm it, and that resulted in some very heated exchanges in the Iranian Parliament. Russian experts have stated that the decision to offer the use of Hamedan to the Russian Aerospace forces could not have been made without the person approval of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and the Russian Aerospace forces had been using the Hamedan airbase since last year, but the (fully understandable) hyper-sensitivity of the Iranian public to the issue of sovereignty made the publication of this information highly embarrassing for the Iranians, especially the conservatives. A second problem is that the Russians were mostly working with the IRGC, since they are the ones fighting inside Syria, while the Iranian Armed forces were unhappy with this arrangement.
Whatever may be the case, in the short term this is definitely bad news, not only because this complicates the execution of Russian air strikes against Daesh, but also because it shows that all is not perfect and sunny in the informal alliance between Russia and Iran. In the mid to long term, I fully expect both sides to mend fences and workout a series of mutually acceptable collaboration protocols between the two countries. In that sense, this is good news.
In truth, neither Russia nor Iran have any options but to work together. The Iranians in particular absolutely need a strong partnership with Russia to keep the US-Takfiri-Zionist-Wahabi (what a combo!) alliance at bay and to continue to be the backbone of the resistance against the AngloZionist Empire in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere. If this leak was truly an effort of the armed forces to sabotage an IRGC run operation, than the Supreme Leader will have to “clean house” and make sure that all the factions of the Iranian government work together rather then against each other. Considering the kind of vicious infighting taking place for years (and still continuing) in Russia between the Atlantic Integrationists and the Eurasian Sovereignists, I think that Vladimir Putin will have a very great deal of understanding for the difficulty to run a covert operation in a country in which different factions compete against each other.
The Saker
Turkey has just invaded Syria!
It’s all over the news supported by the U.S. airforce they have sent in tanks snd fighters.
This needs to be discussed
Has Turkey played a game with Russia and Iran??
No wonder Russia said relations would be re- established over the period from 2016 to 2019
Joe Biden is in Turkey now saying all the positive things about a Turkey
The Kurds must surely realised they have been thrown under the bus?
I recall a number of reports expecting that the Kurds will be crushed if they were to start fighting against the nations their territories belong to. As much as I have sympathy to a people seeking self-governance, it has to be discussed and implemented in mutual consent in a way that independence can effectively be achieved. Splitting off Rojava from Syria would only result in Rojava falling under the booth of the AngloZionists for ages. Independence and prosperity look entirely different.
I sincerely hope that the Kurdish leaders are intelligent enough to refuse unilateral death traps instigated by foreign handlers. Instead the YPG should kick out the US troops/advisers as soon as possible. They would then better wait until Daesh is thrown out of Syria. Once that is achieved, the Syrian government will be able to hold talks in Syria with all its populace. As of now, the US still denies the Kurds access to the round table in Geneva.
My take regarding ‘Euphrates Shield’:
US/Israel/SA end game for Syria is partition as follows: Kurdish autonomous region from Hassakah to Afrin, Sunny state bordering Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon and Shia/Alewite state in Latakia. First of all the autonomous Kurdish region will be used to keep Turkey in check and away from its neo-Otoman aspirations and be sure that US will make this final push when the time come to present to the Kurds all needed political muscle (latest example Kosovo). Second the Sunni state will be used for regaining lost political ground in Iraq (this way Iran and the IRGC will be pushed out from Iraq and maybe in some time in the future will be used as a launching ground for war on Iran, this apply to the Kurdish region as well). And third the Shia state will be just for keeping the democratic optics at play (or just a PR).
My take is that when Erdo and Vlad met at Leningrad all military/intelligence channels were opened and Erdo was made privy to the information regarding the future of the region (of course only to the US aspiration and not to the real Russian goals). Of course that Russia (as well as Iran and Mr. Bashar) are not thrilled from the implications of the US plan and they seek ways to stop it. The failed coup in Turkey gave them the option to throw a spinner in this plan without paying high price, i.e. they just fed Erdo the data and now he is smashing the Kurdish forces under the umbrella of the already very dysfunctional anti-Daesh US coalition. The most important effect will be that the Kurds most probably will rethink their engagement with US and that the Turks will maybe pacify them (they absolutely have to do this because the stakes are already to high and if they failed Turkey will be Syria 2.0 in 5-10 years) so this way the Syrian army won’t need to battle with them. Also Turkey finally will secure the border. Of course now Mr. Bshar is playing the sovereignty game and condemns the Turkish operation but I am pretty sure that in due time Erdo and Mr. Bashar will mend fences. Be prepared for geopolitical churns after Erdo goes to Iran to reboot the Turkish-Iranian cooperation in the region (make no mistake, Iran and Turkey feels for each other and this is why that during the sanction period Turkey made some extra efforts to facilitate the Iranian gold trade no matter what US/NATO has prescribed). Also there is this G20 meeting in Hangzhou and in my opinion this one will be pretty interesting and there is very strong possibility that Mr Erdogan will announce hard aspirations for leaving NATO and joining the Shanghai security organization. Also I strongly believe that this is the place where Xi will make a proposal which cannot be denied by Erdo (OBOR and tons of money) and will be the catalyst of Turkey changing camps. This will follow the already established pattern that the dynamic duo Putin-Jinping are employing toward state actors – Putin takes care of the diplomacy/military aspects and Jinping takes care of the financial aspects.
Feel free to comment your takes on the ‘Euphrates Shield’ and the dynamics between Turkey-Russia, Turkey-Iran and Turkey-USA.
Good, I would say nearly professional, analysis and I hope that things go to that direction. Here´s interesting link: http://katehon.com/article/operation-syria-first-fruits-russian-turkish-cooperation, that provides a bit similar view.
“now Mr. Bshar is playing the sovereignty game and condemns the Turkish operation but I am pretty sure that in due time Erdo and Mr. Bashar will mend fences”.
I think the condemnation was more specific, Bashar has just demanded that Turkey coordinate with Syria. I think this means that Turkey’s help against ISIS would be appreciated if they submitted to Syrian oversight / control. Undoubtedly Syria is concerned that Turkey will “reclaim” its “historic lands” in northern Syria, much like Russia reclaimed Crimea (and push comes to shove Turkey could even hold a referendum which would go their way).
As to the end game, I still think the Empire is gunning for a large pan-Arabic Caliphate (which will have only a short life, but is meant to serve a critical function in the Empire’s efforts to destroy religion and the nation-state, though it’s having some issues herding the extremists into the proper corral).
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/08/turkey-crosses-into-syria-unipolar.html
Interesting piece. Basically it relays my take for ‘Euphrates Shield’ but with far superior writing technique and of course with facts on the ground gather by different diplomatic and intelligence institutions. Anyway, the point is that we maybe are witnessing the beginning of the end. All moves in the ME region and signs showed by the actors are pointing to the coming switch of the main security guarantor for the region. Even the SA and Israel have been busy the last 3 months with diplomatic shuttles to Moscow and Leningrad. My timeline is that by the end of October this so called ‘civil war’ will be active only on the round table for political reconciliation and once the process started we will welcome the PLA which will be tasked with the humanitarian operations and the country rebuilding (most probably we will see a lot of Turkish subcontractors as well). Also I think that by Mar-2017 we will also see a big shift in the Balkans energy projects. Most notably I think that Bulgaria’s PM – Borisov will finally coin a deal with the countries political opposition forces and they will give him and his party support to restart the South Stream and the NP Belene. Also I predict that in near future Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey will be mutually bundled by Mr. Putin as the Balkans gas transit hubs as well as net exporters of electricity. The plan inside the plan for Mr. Putin is by those energy hubs to bundle together all of south Europe to his energy train and thus way to have leverage in the west European politics. You know when you get close with the business establishment and offer them a deal they cannot refuse the nation’s political systems are rendered useless so I am hopeful that I will see in my lifetime a united Eurasia from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
Peace
I believe that the war against Syria may have started off to benefit Israel but has now morphed into containing China’s attempt to open overland access (OBOR) in case the sea routes are closed. The same is true for Ukraine, originally a bleeding wound for Russia, now also against China’s plans. Geographically speaking Ukraine is the best route to Europe and Syria to the Med. Neither Russia or China (and Iran as far as Syria is concerned) can allow this to happen.
How awful that we can’t get a faction going in the US to oppose proxy wars particularly and Hegemonic obsessions in general…
That would be a good idea,”if”,we had outside governments ,or big pocketed citizens willing to fund an operation like that.Which is how the US does its “opposition” building in other countries. But the countries that “need” to do something like that,won’t do it. And the “big pocketed” people are the ones supporting the US regime.Some would say “but the US would find out about that”. To which my answer is “so what”,you “deny,deny,deny”,which is exactly what the US does. We all know the US subverts other countries,and funds the 5th column in Russia and other states. But they don’t ever “admit” to it. So why should the Russians,Chinese,etc,either. You deny it,but you do it. Unless they wake up to that fact,we’ll never had a viable opposition in the US. It takes money,and lots of it, to influence politics in the World. The Israelis are lucky,they have a pro-Israeli 5th column rich enough, and willing and able, to work for them for free inside the US,and most of the West.No other country can claim to be that lucky.
In my opinion an Israeli 5th column is all but luck. It is a deadly curse leading to an uncontrollable mistrust among even the best friends. Quite a miserable condition of existence, in fact. Much better to stay away.
Trump’s foreign policy.
No more nation building.
No intervention wars.
Only fight ISIS with allies, and Russia should be our ally.
He has more than a faction. He has a massive movement behind him.
Both Russia and Iran needs to take inspiration for Turkey and make a massive purge of USA elements.
According to a senior Russian military officer, the Russians could return at any time:
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160824/1044588522/russia-hamadan-deployment.html
You are right about Khamenei cleaning house. There are many Iranians who (naively) hanker after closer relations with the US, in the deluded belief that the Americans will help Iran achieve its potential development faster, without appreciating that the US will never allow ANY middle eastern to develop enough to threaten Israel, and an economically developed Iran would certainly be such a threat and more. Inevitably, the US would try to use Iran to undermine Russian and Chinese geostrategic objectives at Iran’s expense.
Iran will only develop its full potential as a member of the Russian led Eurasian Economic Union, SCO and China’s massive silk road project. I am sure leaders like Khamenei and Rouhani understand that and will seek to strengthen those relations.
Just to show how correct you are about that small group of Iranians persisting in deluding themselves about benefits flowing from associating with the US……several years ago when they had a president that Western talking heads referred to as a “moderate”, Mohammed Khatami(1997-2005), what did they achieve from the West?
Absolutely nothing!
Israel continued to ensure that no US administration had any positive interaction with Tehran during Khatami’s tenure.
Did you remember how Ahmadinejad who replaced Khatami started off in office by writing to Obama, saying how both countries should work together to overcome mistrust etc etc?
The Israeli lobby and their many supporters quickly labelled Obama naive and stupid for even entertaining any correspondence with Tehran and of course you should know the rest from there:
Sanctions
Assassinations
Sabotage
Only humiliation and subjugation will flow to Iran from any close association with the West.
The Iranians like Rafsanjani who continue to wink at the West are traitorous criminals who should be dealt with accordingly.
I read on the Duran that the Iranian head of their security council now says the Iranians invited Russia to use the base. And that anytime they need to they can use it. So it may be that the “right” people are cracking down on any anti-Russian talk.
http://theduran.com/iran-explains-russian-military-deployment-russia-an-ally/
A very interesting analysis. I personally believe much of this has been very much blown out of proportion. It is arguably a sensitive case that was very much debated in parliament recently where some argued that the Iranian constitution was being violated while Hossein Dehqan and Ali Larijani (speaker of Parliament) defended the decision, citing that Iran has not given the Russians a permanent base but rather given them permission to re-fuel in Hamedan.
In another interesting twist, Ali Larijani yesterday said that the Russian mission in Hamedan would continue, this sounds very credible coming from such a top official such as him.
(https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/russians-continue-use-military-base-western-iran-iranian-official/)
Regarding the alleged internal conflicts between the IRGC and the Iranian Army, if the leak was indeed made by the Iranian Army, it is highly probable that it was politically motivated as it should be noted that the army drafts is soldiers from conscripts from all over the country, whereas the IRGC is first and foremost a ideological paramilitary organization strongly connected to the Iranian Principlists (conservative) bloc, who happen to be those who are the staunchest backers of the Syrian government.
Some elements of the army however, as witnessed by the post-electoral violence of 2009 (where some participated in the riots), have a rather “reformist” view on the Islamic Republic, a view that conservatives have several times accused of being a “fifth columnist” element in Iran. These people often share some animosity towards Russians as well, often seeing no difference between modern day Russia and the Soviet Union.
All in all, I believe the Russo-Iranian cooperation will continue to flourish because of the necessity of this alliance. Both parties are well aware of the importance of the other in order to resolve the conflict and I believe the cooperation will continue. High ranking officials such as Ali Shamkhani did sound rather positive recently when he talked about the cooperation.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/08/16/480280/Iran-Russia-Syria-Ali-Shamkhani-Hamedan-Defense-Ministry
the future is fresh and uncreated. nobody knows what tomorrow shall bring. all guesses, predictions, forecasts about the future carries 50% likelihood of occurrence. maybe in an hour from now thousands of missiles carrying something will rain over russia, or maybe not, or maybe something else will happen somewhere. goodbye classical physics, hello quantum domain. maybe tomorrow will start raining and non stop lightning and thunder continue for 40 days.
everything possible, even russia can got down the drain, past success is no guarantee for future ones. surprise is the name of the day in our times. surprisingly turks entered syria today, and another surprising earthquake in rome. what a day, and its not over yet. imagine a near future where you encounter 10 or 20 hefty headlines a day, increasing in frequency, many will quit watching reading any sort of media, instead,live in the present now
There´s always invisible logic under the developments. And if you are not blind you can see something, and be ready when the tide turns. And I can tell you that the tide is turning now, and fast.
Your “quantum” non-linearity sounds extremely abstract, non-concrete to me and leads to…classical Hippy semi-cultural conclusion: past and future matters not instead…etc “Everything is possible” is a long wide generalisation as to be logically accepted. By the way, do criminals act with logic?, of course they do, but fill their inconsistent logical structures with non-presentable factual statements then they have to hide. Do invisible logic is the same it moves the invisible hand of markets? All markets are rigged: Gold, commodities, you name it…, moved by the same, not so invisible now days, hand, but yes, I agree flow is turning
A shame. However a fast and respectful withdrawal is without a doubt the correct response. It will appease those genuinely concerned regarding sovereignty and so defeat possible firth columnist while winning over the armed forces. All will be perfectly aware of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’ position re:- The russian presence, so that Russias’ respectful exile should be short lived.
I agree this seems to be at least partially an internal Iranian problem set against the backdrop of their Constitution. However, I wonder if the American threat to down any over flights of their special ops troops embedded with the Kurds plays into this mix. With the Turks advance into Syrian territory and the American no fly canopy being structured are we witnessing the Americans long sought after safe-no fly zone coming into being? How quickly can IS be transformed into moderate rebels? There is much complexity in this latest development that needs to be correctly deciphered and responded to in the correct manner.
Very stupid of Iranian those bombers were a win win for Iran.
1. They were bombing forces against whom Iranians are trying to win a war!
2. The coalition vibes it was sending a pseudo alliance it may be but it was clearly showing to the world who is at who’s side. The Israelis and the Americans must have peed in their pants when they must have heard about it.
Iranian defense minister statements infact can be interpreted as that Iraninians are trying to act like macho super power by sending home Russians like that! Ayotallah please get rid of him.
Peace…
It seems nothing is suspended: read this https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-flights-iranian-base-not-suspended-iranian-official/
Well, there seems to have been always a sector of the Iranian Army willing to please the AngloAmericans and their interests, ( i.e. sell themselves and their country ):
The Blog del Viejo Topo has translated into Spanish this chapter from William Blum´s book “Killing Hope” on the coup that overthrew the legitimate democratically elected government of Mohammad Mossadegh which ushered in the dictatorship exercised by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi:
“Iran 1953. Giving the king of kings safety. The coup prepared by the CIA and MI6 in Iran.
http://blogdelviejotopo.blogspot.com.es/2016/08/iran-1953-dandole-seguridad-al-rey-de.html
A MUST READ!.
If you can not achieve an English version, try to translate with a translator. Or buy the book, “Killing Hope”, has no waste.
Also for people here who may not know him , his biography from his very site:
http://www.mohammadmossadegh.com/biography/
Fatima, thank you for the link to the Mossadegh site — the bio and more. There is always more to learn, and I learn from not only the Saker and his helpers, but from so many who contribute in the comments. For me, this contribution is especially valuable.
Thanks Fatima for the links and info.
On the same topic there is also CIA historian Tim Weiner’s book “Legacy of ashes”, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent article in Politico magazine:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/rfk-jr-why-arabs-dont-trust-america-213601#ixzz41GpESsXW
Your welcome.
Here another interesting analysis by Nazanín Armanian:
“On the short life of the Iranian-Russian “strategic partnership” “
http://blogs.publico.es/puntoyseguido/3507/sobre-la-corta-vida-de-la-asociacion-estrategica-ruso-irani/
“(…) 10. But the US own interests would be endangered, not by the luck that can run the poor and destroyed country of the Syrians, but by megaprojects signed between Russians and Iranians (the two major gas reserves in the world) between which is the International maritime Transport Corridor and North-South Land (NSTC, for its acronym in English) 7. 200 kilometers that would connect Russia with Iran and India, the Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia and Europe, which will complete the Chinese New Silk Road. The NSTC agreement, signed in 2000, will not only reduce the cost and duration of commercial transportation, but also compete with the Suez Canal, reducing the geopolitical weight of countries that control it. In fact, the so called “The Great Game” was the name given to the battle between world powers for control of these same waters of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf at the beginning of the last century. And it was by this same desire that the CIA and MI6 created in 1978 the Afghan jihadists, parents of the current ISIS: Their mission was to overthrow the Marxist government of Afghanistan, preventing access of the USSR to these trade routes.
Obama, who wished to finish his mandate inaugurating the US embassy in Tehran, let his successor decide what to do with Iran, the principal spoils of the wars in the Middle East.”
Somehow it seems a bit unrealistic to assume that Russia could be flying missions out of an Iranian airbase and no one would ever know about it. Seems odd to me that this was not foreseen.
Surprise to you, Saker?
I’ve been stating here and elsewhere for months that Iran is a lousy war partner. As for ally? I doubt Russia considers Iran an ally. Quds? Yes. The government and the people who have a hold on manpower to fight wars, No.
Iran uses proxies in all it “wars”. Shiite militias from Iraq in Iraq, and now some in Syria (reports of 100,000 are dubious. If 100,000 showed up, Aleppo would be over and the border with Turkey sealed).
And in Yemen, it’s proxies fight.
As for Iran’s view of their national sovereignty, if Russia and China had not intervened with the sanctions, force an agreement which turned out to be totally one-sided in favor of Iran, Tehran might be smoldering under Obama-Israel’s missile attacks. Certainly, the various nuclear labs would be buried under plutonium waste.
Iran, if it thinks it can play off Russia is totally delusional. The Kurds can be turned against them, the Taliban can be used against them and ISIS will be used against them.
It’s just that the West wants to make a ton of money off them for a few years, then it will turn on them. If it, like Turkey, does not get in the formation, following the lead of Russia and China, it will be contained and wrecked, inevitably. They are an opportunity for wealth to be made by the West vultures. But, just as easily, they can be destroyed. Ask Gaddafi.
They have always had the binary government schizoid problem since ’79. What decision is made by which group?
It doesn’t matter to nations outside. It’s all Iranian. And they had better mature and get their act together.
Today we are watching their four little speed boats harass a US destroyer.
Pathetic. Out of North Korea’s playbook.
You want to put the Hegemon on ‘pause’? Keep Russia real close, based in Iran when and where they want.
Object lesson two: Erdogan will not survive if he does not come to Eurasia and join the future.
Iran needs the one power that can turn back the Hegemon.
I just judge nations or governments by their actions, as you would a person.
Iran shows me very little and would have already lost Syria completely, and probably at that point Israel would have devastated Hezbollah which has lost 5000, at least, of its top fighters in Syria.
Then ISIS would have turned full force on Iraq, the US would step aside and let them blow out the Shiite government there. Where would Iran stop that menace? They’d be in the street of Tehran.
They should erect statues to Putin and the Russian military.
Unfortunately it seems Russia has teamed up with the “little” people in its great game with the US. It reminds me of poor Germany in both World Wars. Austro Hungarian incompetence at the strategic levels cost the Central Powers the war. Romania, Italy, and Hungary were too weak to really help in the East and were duplicitous too boot. China is duplicitous as well. Talk is cheap, and until I see Chinese military advisors in Damascus, I am going to hold to that inclination. I think it is sad that a supposed coalition of Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, and Iraq, can take down one infantry corp worth of whack jobs, no matter how armed they are.
Three years of digging in and under the cities, tens of thousands of human shields, US assistance, crucial weapons delivered (TOWS against tanks and other armor, and MANPADS against helos and attack jets flying bombing and missile runs).
It’s not like they are dug in on hillsides and trenches. They are under buildings in urban warfare where snipers and IEDS and huge car bombs are the weapons. And many units fight to the death.
How many troops of your army are you willing to lose?
Syria has lost enormous numbers. Hezbollah has lost a huge number for their population.
And Russia has no intention of taking heavy loses.
I agree with your assessment of China. They are tiptoeing in. But they are babes in the woods of warfare. Have much to learn. They won’t be advising any other units other than totally green troops who don’t know anything.
Iran is the weakling. Won’t represent its own dire interests. Russia is the savior.
“In summary, we can interpret this announcement of a new “withdrawal” as accomplishing one or more of the aforementioned requirements: (1) removing potential demands from the soft pro-Atlanticist Iranian opposition; (2) greatly reducing the possibility of the US presenting the Hamadan airbase as a concession to be demanded Russia; (3) reducing the potential of the US successfully arguing that Iran is violating the UN Security Council resolution.”
Deciphering the ‘Russian Withdrawal’ from Hamadan
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/08/deciphering-russian-withdrawal-from.html
In reference to the last part of the article, in the U.S., the political parties don’t have the problem of political party differences. The Democ-rats and the Replublican’ts are essentially the same party.The west is one big NWO party. Same policies makes it easier to conquer the world. United they stand, divided they fall.
Trump seems to be doing a job exposing just how much they are alike.
Time to clean house, get rid of the subverts.
It seems the only way to fix this mess is to break “it” and start over.
The supposition that the use of the airbase by Russian forces was revealed by Warfare Worldwide from sources in Iran itself might very well be just that – a supposition.
I’m absolutely sure that the Zionazis have sufficient resources and know-how to have found out Russian planes on the ground, taking off and landing there. After all, all you need is a few plane spotters with binoculars and voila, the secrete is out to embarrass both Iranians and Russians, something the Zionazis would gleeful do anytime.
The Russians might even dutifully have told their “partners” in Tel Aviv and Washington what they were doing, like telling the flight paths of their planes near the Turkish border.
Fatima, that was me, thanking you. GrandmaR
I have red numerous pieces which contradict your assessment that the Russian Aero Space Forces are no longer being permitted to utilize Hamaden. Time will tell the true story.
Long Live Iran
” the Iranian military advisors DEMANDED Russian air force backup to render logistical support for ground operations in Aleppo.”
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950603001167
This Saker, always so clear and bright. Same to most of comments. Dirty cloth in house is laundered is a said from..who cares. As Russia do not shows openly its in-fights between drunken Atanticist (Voltaire net recently recall a photo of Mr M. “extremely happy” at an international meeting during its tenure) and sober Integrationist, same way Islamic Republic have been discrete relative to divide between Conservative and Revolutionaries. Let me show my point. I believe the adjectives “conservative, principalist” applied to base, popular institutions and social movement in old Persia is absolutely misleading and comes from MSM intentional equivocal taxonomy. Same to the term “reformist” applied to…classical institutions supporters and usually prone to US. The semantic subversion is clear to me. Conservatives comes from military/clerical/oligarchy hierarchies that try to suppress some changes effective since 1979, not to reform them as pretended, just as currently occurs in neo-liberal ignorant governments from LatAm. Revolutionaries are conservatives? Are you joking or tying to foolish me? I firmly believe we must stop using that perverted terminology. On the other hand, arguments to use it as actually given are easy to deduce, but it only shows the subtle and delicate side of semantic war
I want to draw your attention to this article
http://www.elsevier.nl/opinie/opinie/2016/08/wat-is-eigenlijk-het-nut-van-russische-bommen-op-syrie-346458/
The article claims that article 146 of the Iranian constitution contains the following text: ‘The establishment of any kind of foreign military base in Iran, even for peaceful purposes, is forbidden,’
That would explain why the Iranian government found the issue so embarrassing.
The author is a law professor of Iranian origin who lives in the Netherlands. The article is in Dutch.
for all to see: Go to Google Earth, type in Iran, Hamadan Airport or base, look at what you see.
These things are so much easier for the US, which has vassals, not allies -the US can do whatever it wishes in UK, Spain, Qatar, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, etc.
Something planned soon—“escape” is nowhere near the correct term here.
Someone earlier somewhere posted about tomorrow Fri 26th being some kind of numerical magic alignment date .
TEHRAN (FNA)- A US passenger plane transferred 155 members of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO, also known as the MEK, PMOI and NCR) terrorist group, including ringleaders, from Iraq to Albania on Thursday morning.
Thu Aug 25, 2016 1:56
155 MKO Terrorists Escape Iraq to Albania on US Passenger Plane
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13950604000522
Since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, the group, which now adheres to a pro-free-market philosophy, has been strongly backed by neo-conservatives in the United States, who argued for the MKO to be taken off the US terror list.
The US formally removed the MKO from its list of terror organizations in early September, one week after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent the US Congress a classified communication about the move. The decision made by Clinton enabled the group to have its assets under the US jurisdiction unfrozen and do business with the American entities, the State Department said in a statement at the time.
In September 2012, the last groups of the MKO terrorists left Camp Ashraf, their main training center in Iraq’s Diyala province. They have been transferred to Camp Liberty. Hundreds of the MKO terrorists have now been sent to Europe, where their names were taken off the blacklist even two years before the US
The Russians and Iranians are walking into a trap in Syria. The US is fighting a war of attrition against Russia in Syria. It is the same war waged against the US by China so effectively in Vietnam. There the Chinese supplied the arms (the Soviet Union was the greater supplier of such arms), logistics and a safe channel for military and other aid to be funneled to the North Vietnamese. This was relatively cheap and inexpensive. But it means that the US grip on South Vietnam cannot be secured despite 600,000 troops, incessant bombing (more bombs were dropped in Vietnam than WW2), and endless financial support which drained the US economy and caused Nixon to take the US dollar off the gold standard. The US is now doing the same to Russia in Syria with the supplies of arms and especially MANPADS (which neutralised the USSR’s air-power in Afghanistan). The Russians and its allies are now doing what the US did in vain in Vietnam – air-power, military advisors and troops (Iran & Hezbollah). The possible ‘game-changer’ is the current intervention by Turkey in an ‘arrangement’ with Russia, which can cut off military supplies to IS and the US allied Al-Nusra Front and Free Syrian Army. But Erdo was and can still be a slippery eel. His objective is to ensure that the Kurds do not link up with their brothers west of the Euphrates by taking Jarabulus and creating a Kurdish state from Iraq to the Mediterranean Sea i.e. all along the southern Turkish border with present Syria! Once his objective is achieved, it is a toss-up whether he will leave his Russian ‘allies’ to fight the war of attrition alone against the US to the bitter, bloody and ruinous (to the Russians) end! The Chinese involvement is very likely to remain more symbolic than actual. Afterall, they can more than take care of the jihadis in the Xinjiang region. Uyghur jihadis returning to Xinjiang are likely to be eliminated piecemeal before they can cause any trouble in a province-sized battlefield already prepared for dealing with them by the Chinese security!
Moral of the story- Russian must never trust any form of Islamic nation. All Muslim nations without exception ( unless we consider Kazakhs an Islamic people’ and not Shamanic/Atheist as most of them are ) are more pro west than pro Russia. Indeed even Assad and the Palestinian leadership are educated in the west and speak fluent english. We have to realise, like it or not, only China can devolop into the ally russia needs. The pro western, manic days are over in China, now that the average person there has sensed the USA intentions in south china sea and Korea. Russia can supply Oil and various minerals to China at a fixed price, there fore insulating China from the Western economic war. Chinese products will be shipped all over Eurasia in the new rail lines, and Russian companies must be given priority over Western ones in China in return.
I beleive Iran is actually an ally of the West, playing a very important role…,
Think about it, Iran and its so called missiles is the escuse used for arming Israel to the hilt and also for putting interceptor missiles in europe.
Iran maintains successfully the fleet of over 40 F14 Tomcat fighter, which former ground crews in the US navy says is one of the most powerful, expensive and mechanically demanding fighters ever built. In addition to the hundreds of F4 phantom and american made transporters, armoured vehicles and ships. The spare parts for these are obviously flooding in somehow from USA, probably via the Pakistan/Afganistan border region. USA could easily make Iran a full ally of the west and quicky turn these missile and fighter jets against russia and kazakhstans’ southern flank. I would never trust Iran, any more than Erdogan. Russia is, and had always been, at war with all forms of Islam. This is the reality of the situation, Orthodox russian people I know, including my cousins’ partner, feel like this. Pro Russian people in the West must stop thinking russia and islam are going to form an alliance against Anglo Saxons, EU and Israel are on the wrong track- All Politcial Islam- Shia or Sunni- comes from the West!
Actual conservative president R fills some requisites as to be considered, partly at least, as you points to. I believe the other wing, not…absolute generalisations are hard to prove…
joe biden left with hat in hand.
Amerikas air force didn’t help Turkey.
http://atimes.com/2016/08/joe-biden-came-saw-but-failed-to-conquer-turkey/
Turkey has turned a 360 back to Mother Russia and has had talks with Iran and throw Iran talks with Syria. Oh and China stopped by after they left Syria.
http://atimes.com/2016/08/joe-biden-came-saw-but-failed-to-conquer-turkey/
Tried to access the website Warfare Worldwide which you cited in the article “Trouble between Moscow and Tehran?”. Google searching would give anyone the impression this website does not exist. All I could get was “server not found”. Any advice, comments, or assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Zhou
A temporary solution would be to do mid-air refueling by Iranian tankers, thus allowing the bombers to carry more ordinance. A second option might be to “lease” the airplanes to Iran for use. In reciprocity, Iran would be allowed to “pay” for it by having it’s pilots and ground personnel “trained” by Russian technicians, who obviously need to be stationed close by.
Our little friends a few miles from me surely can read this but whether you want to publish this or keep it private, I leave up to you.
Greetings and carry on the work.