Member of Parliament: Russia's Use of Nojeh Base Was a Mistake

Izatollah Yusefian Molla, head of the Parliament's Internal Regulations Committee, stated on Friday (December 3) regarding Russia's past use of the Nojeh airbase, "Unfortunately, this action was taken in the past, and it was a mistake they made." This parliament member added that Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, can "issue orders contrary to the Constitution, which usually the Supreme Leader does not do." Yusefian Molla further stated, "We cannot violate the Constitution under the pretext of having a specific goal, unless the Supreme Leader makes a decision." He also warned that "the Minister of Defense does not have the right to break the Constitution, and if this action {granting permission for Russia to use the Nojeh base} is carried out, the Parliament will definitely respond to this action." Meanwhile, Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar, a member of the Judicial and Legal Commission of Parliament, stated on Friday to the "House of the Nation" news agency that Iran has "no problem" in providing "facilities" for Russian aircraft. Pourmokhtar referred to Russia as a country that "works well alongside Iran to seriously combat Takfiri terrorists and ISIS," and it is necessary for Tehran to facilitate the use of this country's aircraft in Iranian airspace. Mohammad Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Parliament, also described Iran-Russia cooperation at Nojeh as a "good" action. Rezaei added that the use of Russian aircraft from the Nojeh base is beneficial for the "Resistance Axis, Iran, Syria, and Russia." Meanwhile, Yusefian Molla stated that Russia's use of the Nojeh base is only possible with the Supreme Leader's order. On December 28, Jala Mirzaei, a member of the Energy Commission, also stated that "we should not be overly sensitive about Russia's use of the Nojeh airbase in Hamadan." Mirzaei added that "if we expect to deepen cooperation regarding the fight against terrorism in Syria, the use of Iranian airspace and a military base should not be a major concern for us." According to him, "the common goal of both countries is to combat the Takfiri terrorists present in the region; I believe that cooperation between Iran and Russia at Nojeh is not prohibited." Hossein Dehghan, the Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Support of Iran, also mentioned on December 27 regarding the possibility of renewed Russian use of the Nojeh airbase in Hamadan that if conditions permit, this will happen. Shortly after these statements, the head of the Defense Committee of the upper house of the Russian Parliament spoke about the possibility of Russia's renewed use of the Nojeh base. Viktor Ozerov stated, "If Russia cannot use the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov for airstrikes against terrorists in Syria, the need to use the Hamadan airbase may arise." On August 17, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced for the first time that its fighter jets had used the Hamadan base to bomb positions of opponents of Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria. Hamadan hosts the third fighter base of the Iranian Air Force named Shahrokhi (Nojeh). This is the first time since the 1979 Revolution that Iran has officially confirmed that a foreign country has used its military bases. Additionally, since World War II and the occupation of Iranian territory by Allied forces, this is the first time that Russians have used Iranian soil for military operations.