Defense Minister's Remarks on Russia's Use of Other Iranian Bases

The statements of the Defense Minister of Hassan Rouhani's government regarding the deployment of Russian warplanes at the Nojeh Air Base in Hamadan have attracted attention from several newspapers. Among them, the Arman newspaper, while dedicating a photo of Hossein Dehghan, quoted the Defense Minister as saying: "The presence of Russian aircraft has nothing to do with the Parliament." According to this newspaper, the Defense Minister referred to the presence of Russian fighter jets in Hamadan and the use of Russian facilities at the Hamadan airbase, stating: "What is happening today regarding the acceptance of Russian aircraft in Hamadan is in line with mutual cooperation between Iran and Russia to target equipment and gatherings in terrorist movements, and this is also done at the request of Syria." The Arman newspaper reported that the Defense Minister emphasized that "there is currently no plan to use other bases, but if operational conditions require it, necessary reviews and decisions will be made." In response to a question regarding the objections of some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to the presence of Russian aircraft in Iranian airspace and their use of Iranian facilities, he stated: "As long as necessary, we will allow the use of the Nojeh base. This matter has nothing to do with the Parliament. This action is a decision of the system to combat ISIS and terrorists in Syria," and "the Supreme National Security Council has a resolution in this regard." The Shargh newspaper also reported on its front page that the press conference on Saturday by Hossein Dehghan, the Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support, although primarily focused on a report of the ministry's performance and future plans, saw most journalists' questions directed at the presence of Russian aircraft at the Nojeh airbase and the criticisms expressed about this action. The Defense Minister provided strange responses to these criticisms, such as stating that "it was a decision of the system and has nothing to do with the representatives of the Parliament." According to this newspaper, "Although these remarks by Hossein Dehghan were immediately met with reactions from some representatives, such as Mahmoud Sadeghi, the most serious action in this regard is a letter written by 20 representatives to Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament, requesting that officials from the Supreme National Security Council attend a closed session to respond to the Parliament on this matter." The Javan newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, in a note titled "Russia-phobia Aimed at Leaning into America's Arms" fiercely attacked domestic critics of the deployment of Russian aircraft in Hamadan, stating: "The end of the honeymoon between Tehran and Washington is precisely the main reason for the concerns of the internal Western-leaning spectrum regarding the enhancement of cooperation between Iran and Russia, especially concerning the use of the Hamadan airbase." This newspaper wrote: "The media hype and propaganda of the internal Western-leaning current regarding Russia's use of our country's airspace is not about national interests and defending the airspace and territorial integrity of the country or even the constitution, but rather about party and factional interests that are willing to endanger the general public's interests to protect their own." The Javan newspaper, referring to the deaths of several Iranian forces sent to Syria during the reduction of Russian forces in Khan Tuman, wrote: "The bitter incident in Khan Tuman is another example where the internal Western-leaning current attempted to portray Russia as an unreliable ally for the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is willing to sacrifice the blood of dozens of young people from this land in a joint military program without having a logical justification for it." Meanwhile, the Shahrevand newspaper reported with the headline "Stateless Children" that "UNICEF says that with the interruption of drinking water, the lives of nearly 100,000 children in Aleppo are at risk due to various diseases caused by contaminated water consumption." This newspaper quoted Ibrahim Alhaj from the "White Helmets" relief organization, stating that "war jets typically attack Aleppo more than 40 times on bombing days," while "over 3.5 million children under five in Syria have witnessed violence, migration, and lack of trust in the future, and 306,000 Syrian children have become refugees in neighboring countries, with nearly 8.4 million Syrian children in need of humanitarian assistance in Syria and neighboring countries." The Shahrevand newspaper reminded that "according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, over 14,700 children have been killed since 2011, most of whom lost their lives in bombings." The Etemad newspaper has a report about "the death of an Afghan girl in need of a liver transplant at Namazi Hospital in Shiraz," stating: "Latifeh, a 12-year-old Afghan migrant girl who was hospitalized due to the need for a liver transplant at Namazi Hospital in Shiraz, died because the operation was prohibited for illegal residents in Iran. This Afghan girl had been suffering from liver problems and needed a transplant from her father. However, her father stated that doctors at Namazi Hospital in Shiraz refused to perform the operation due to the illegality of Latifeh and her family." This newspaper quoted Latifeh Rahmani's father as saying: "My daughter walked into the hospital on her own, and now they won’t even give me her lifeless body, saying I need to deposit 17 million tomans into the hospital account to receive my daughter's body," while "hospital officials cited the family's illegality, lack of financial means, and the absence of an empty bed for the operation as reasons for not performing the operation on my daughter." Saman Nik Aghbalian, a member of the transplant team at Namazi Hospital in Shiraz, stated: "Latifeh Rahmani was transferred from Dezful to Namazi Hospital on August 18 with a diagnosis of Wilson's disease and liver cirrhosis, and on the same day she was hospitalized in the pediatric gastroenterology department, and considering the condition of the disease, simultaneous drug treatments and medical evaluations for performing a liver transplant were carried out for her. During this time, all necessary actions were taken for the patient," but "according to the attending physician, there was absolutely no possibility of a transplant, and on August 28, due to further drops in blood pressure, the patient suffered cardiac arrest and lost her life." Mohammad Reza Edraqi, the head of Namazi Hospital in Shiraz, cited the "illegal residency of the patient in Iran and lack of insurance" as reasons for not performing the liver transplant from Latifeh's father to her, and regarding the hospital costs, he stated: "The treatment costs for Latifeh were estimated at around 17 million tomans, but today (August 30), after the hospital's social work department followed up for the release of the body, the hospital costs were waived, and the body was handed over to the Rahmani family." Abbas Abdi, in a note in the Novavaran newspaper, referred to the increasing "pressure for the single-term presidency" of Hassan Rouhani, comparing it to similar pressures on Mohammad Khatami between 1997 and 1999, stating: "The interesting point is that Rouhani is considered part of the principlist faction, while Khatami was historically and ideologically associated with the left and later reformists, but perhaps one reason for these pressures is "the very attribution of Rouhani to the principlist faction." The columnist of Novavaran identified "decreased confidence among the government's opponents" due to communication and media developments, "potential achievements of the JCPOA," and "benefits derived from sanctions" as other reasons for the increased pressures on Hassan Rouhani in the final year of his eleventh government. The Jahane San'at newspaper dedicated its front page to the expansion of street vending in Tehran, the municipality's confrontations with street vendors, and a letter from several economists to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor, and Mehdi Chamran, the head of the Tehran City Council, calling for "recognition of street vending." According to this newspaper, Iranian economists in their letter demanded an end to confrontations with street vendors and the organization of such businesses, stating that "street vending can be the first step towards larger businesses," emphasizing that "in the context of the recent years' economic recession, which has led many Iranian production units to shut down or reduce their workforce, and many compatriots and families with unemployed heads are facing very difficult living conditions, creating a daily market and the possibility of selling handmade, home-produced, or even small-scale products can save many families from the poverty line and the dangers of despair and its social consequences." "30% Increase in Rent Prices" is the headline of the Jahane San'at newspaper, which reported: "Although official statistics state that rent prices increased by a maximum of 15% in the summer quarter, field investigations by Jahane San'at show that rents in some areas of Tehran have even increased by 30%." The Hamdeli newspaper reported on its front page about "the repeated request of Ahmad Alamolhoda by some Friday prayer leaders," stating that after the Minister of Culture's retreat from holding concerts in Mashhad, "some Friday prayer leaders also reacted to holding concerts in their cities. Some recommended moderation, while others protested against holding concerts in their cities." This newspaper noted that "a judicial official in Khorasan Razavi announced that concerts would not be held not only in Mashhad but throughout Khorasan Razavi," writing: "It seems that the scope of the prohibition on concerts is set to expand. All of this raises a question for the government about where concerts will be held!" At the same time, Valiollah Shajapuriyan, a member of the Tehran City Council, wrote in the Hamdeli newspaper: "The issue of concerts and the way the government and parliament interact to pursue the rights of the people is an important test for the two influential institutions in the country to prove that in the political system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the law is above personal preferences, and in the confrontation between law and preference, the law will prevail." The Arman newspaper also reported statements from the Friday prayer leader of Kashan, who said that enemies "inject infertility vaccines into Muslims to take away their ability to reproduce and prevent their population from growing." The Tejarat newspaper quoted Abolhasan Firouzabadi, the Deputy Minister of Labor, stating that "the Parliament's resolution to eliminate 24 million subsidy recipients is not fully executable," saying: "The government is negotiating to eliminate 3 to 10 million of the current subsidy recipients." The Kayhan newspaper also featured a front-page headline about the historical day of the oil industry, urging experts to take warnings seriously, referring to a "closed session in Parliament to align representatives with the general conditions, structure, and model of oil and gas contracts from the eleventh government's resolutions. Perhaps today we will witness another JCPOA in the oil sector."