The Nouzeh Puzzle

The deployment of Russian fighter jets and bombers at Nouzeh Air Base in Hamadan has sparked various reactions in Thursday's newspapers. The daily Ebtekar, under the headline "The Nouzeh Puzzle," raises the question, "What are Russian planes doing in Hamadan?" It states, "The presence of Russian fighter jets at Nouzeh Air Base in Hamadan, following an agreement between Iran and Russia to fight ISIS, has raised many questions in people's minds." According to this newspaper, on one hand, "the accuracy of this news and the manner of this presence remain shrouded in ambiguity, and on the other hand, some critics of this event say it conflicts with the principles of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran." Furthermore, "some also point out that previously, Iranian officials and experts assessed the presence of military forces from one country on the territory of another as a sign of dependency and jeopardizing the independence of the host country, and now there is concern that such an event could happen to Iran as well." The daily Arman also reported on its front page under the title "The Russia Puzzle in Hamadan," mentioning the warning from Heshamollah Falahatpisheh regarding the deployment of Russian planes in Hamadan, quoting this member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the 10th Parliament as saying: "The news of the deployment of Russian fighters at Nouzeh Air Base has been raised, which according to Article 146 of the Constitution prohibits the establishment of any foreign military base in the country, even for peaceful use." Heshamollah Falahatpisheh stated that "Russia has a very different and sometimes turbulent foreign policy," addressing Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, saying: "This is the first time since World War II that such an opportunity has been given to a foreign power in Iran. My request is to explain according to Article 110 of the regulations whether there are necessary protective measures in this regard and how much we can trust the future political and strategic fluctuations in the behavior of the Russians to grant them access to our skies." The daily Arman also reported that Ali Larijani, in response to Heshamollah Falahatpisheh's warning, stated: "Our cooperation with Russia as an ally in regional issues, especially in Syria, does not mean that we have granted Russia a military base." Shahrouz Barzgar, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the 10th Parliament, mentioned that next week the "Ministries of Intelligence and Interior" will provide a report on the "accuracy or inaccuracy of the news regarding the presence of Russian fighters in Iran," telling the daily Ebtekar: "We have not yet confirmed the presence of Russians in Iran, and their presence or absence in Hamadan has not been clarified for us so far, and of course, the presence of Russian fighters in Iran is not prohibited as it can help us easily eliminate ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria." Meanwhile, the daily Javan, close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, defended the deployment of Russian warplanes in Hamadan, stating: "Article 146 of the Constitution, which some have hidden behind to oppose Iran-Russia cooperation, says: the establishment of any foreign military base in the country, even for peaceful uses, is prohibited," but "a little contemplation, even without legal or political knowledge, makes the difference between 'establishing a foreign military base in Iran' and 'granting limited use of the Nouzeh military base to Russia' evident." This newspaper also referred to the statements of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic in 2004, who said, "One of the levers of foreign influence is the establishment of military bases in other countries," but simultaneously wrote that "the concept of establishing a military base is clear, and it is also clear that such a situation does not prevail in Hamadan." The daily Javan also stated that the deployment of Russian planes is due to a resolution by the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic, stating: "In a resolution, it allows Russia to use the Nouzeh base in Hamadan to support Iran's positions in the Syrian war, which suffices." This daily, close to the IRGC, noted that the use of the Nouzeh base in Hamadan has allowed Russian planes to cover a distance of 900 kilometers instead of the 2,000 kilometers they would have had to travel for operations in Syria, writing: "The policy of the Islamic Republic should be praised for managing to bring one of the world's powers to its front lines to fight at its own expense. Iran, Hezbollah, Russia, and even Iraq are members of a united team against ISIS; they are members of a coalition against terrorism. It is not strange for team members to pass the ball to each other." The daily Hamdeli reported on its front page about the Parliament's resolution for "limiting the powers of the Guardian Council after elections," stating: "On Wednesday, the representatives of Parliament reviewed the generalities and details of the interpretation of the election law of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and approved that the Guardian Council cannot express any further opinion about the qualifications of a candidate or elected representative after the election with a valid vote from the people." This daily also reported that Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran and a supporter of this interpretation, during the review of the "interpretation of Article 73 and Paragraph 3 of Article 25 of the Parliament Election Law," said: "In an election in a constituency where the result has been approved by the Guardian Council and no violations such as vote buying have occurred, the votes of the elected representatives should not be invalidated solely due to one of the published backgrounds, as this is disrespectful to the elected representatives of the people." The daily Hamdeli also mentioned the possibility of this resolution being rejected by the Guardian Council, quoting Elias Hazrati, a member of Parliament, as saying: "We predict that the resolution will be rejected, but the representatives and designers of the proposal insist, and the Parliament will likely return the resolution after the Guardian Council's amendments, and if it is rejected again, the resolution will go to the Expediency Council, and it is predicted that the Council will accept the Parliament's opinion." This member of the 10th Parliament also stated that "the issue of interpretation does not apply to Minou Khalighi, in fact, the second paragraph of the interpretation that included this issue was not approved and therefore does not apply to the 10th Parliament elections." However, Ali Motahari, in an interview with the daily Arman, stated that this interpretation "does apply to Minou Khalighi, but our goal is not limited to Ms. Khalighi; rather, this interpretation is to prevent this issue from recurring in the future and to not use this matter as a precedent." Minou Khalighi, the third elected representative from Isfahan in the elections of February 26, 2016, was disqualified by the Guardian Council despite receiving the necessary votes to enter the 10th Parliament and has so far been barred from entering Parliament. The daily Jahan Sanat, in a report titled "The People's Misfortune," wrote: "Following the surge in the import of prohibited goods into the country and considering the emphasis of the Supreme Leader regarding the burning of smuggled goods and the new government resolution regarding the export or destruction of seized smuggled goods, on Wednesday morning in Tehran and several other provinces such as Kermanshah, Sistan and Baluchestan, Azerbaijan, and Bushehr, a total of over 22 billion tomans worth of confiscated smuggled goods were destroyed." This daily questioned why "instead of destroying various consumable goods, they are not provided to the underprivileged segments of society," quoting the spokesperson for the Anti-Smuggling Goods and Currency Headquarters as saying: "Economically, the underprivileged are also part of the total demand and we cannot meet part of the total demand with smuggled goods." According to Jahan Sanat, Mojtaba Khosrotaj, the Deputy Minister of Industry, also explained the reason for destroying smuggled goods, saying: "To eliminate the hope of infiltration into the administrative and executive system of the country and to prevent smugglers from receiving smuggled goods again, it is better that smuggled goods be destroyed and eliminated." The daily Shargh dedicated its front page to a report on "Examining the Relationship Between the Coup Government and Thugs on the Anniversary of August 19," referring to the roles of figures like Shaban Jafari and Tayyeb Haj Rezaei in the coup of August 19, 1953. This daily wrote: "After the coup, the legal Prime Minister of the country was placed under house arrest, and the coup plotters, particularly thugs, received rewards and promotions for years due to their roles in the coup. Perhaps this is why the government that claimed modernity in Iran paid off thugs for many years." The daily Noavaran also dedicated its front page to Mohammad Mossadegh, quoting Fereydoun Majlesi as saying: "Mossadegh should have curtailed politicians' access to oil." The Deputy of the Disciplinary Committee of the Medical Council, in an interview with the daily Shahre Vahdat, revealed the existence of "four confidential errors in the case of Abbas Kiarostami," stating: "More than forty days after the death of this Iranian director, the Medical Council confirmed four cases of medical and disciplinary negligence in Kiarostami's case." Mohsen Khalili told this daily: "In 16 out of 20 areas examined in Abbas Kiarostami's case, both the doctor and the medical staff of both Arad and Jam hospitals had no issues. In four cases, two were medical negligence and two were disciplinary negligence, indictments were issued and sent to the Disciplinary Board for a ruling." The Deputy of the Disciplinary Committee of the Medical Council refrained from providing further details, stating: "Whether this medical negligence pertains to which doctor or which hospital is confidential information; we are currently waiting for the Disciplinary Board's opinion to issue a ruling, and once the ruling is issued, it will be communicated to the parties, and if they have any complaints, they can file them." Adel Moghadass, the lawyer for Abbas Kiarostami's family, emphasized that "next week, the family will file an official complaint with the Medical Prosecutor's Office," telling the daily Shahre Vahdat: "Since no complaint has been filed by Kiarostami's family, the Ministry of Health and the Medical Council are withholding the results of the investigation from the family and their lawyer; therefore, we are forced to file a complaint to be informed about the medical case of the late Kiarostami." The daily Ebtekar published a photo of Behdad Salimi on its front page, noting that "the jury, despite the referees' vote, deprived Behdad Salimi of the Olympic gold medal," stating: "The strength of the world's strongest man did not reach the referees so that Iran's weightlifting triple crown in the Rio Olympics would not be completed." The daily Iran also dedicated its front page to Behdad Salimi, with the headline "Behdad's Cry Against Injustice," stating: "The unjust judges stole the medal from the Iranian Hercules." This daily, however, reminded that "in weightlifting, the jury has the authority to intervene in the referees' decisions and overturn the ruling, which happened in Behdad's case," but it also noted that during Behdad Salimi's failure to win a medal, the person sitting at the jury's desk was named "Jaloud," who is not a positive figure as he has shown hostility towards the Iranian Weightlifting Federation due to the elections of the Asian Confederation.