29 Mar 2024
Saturday 10 September 2016 - 15:18
Story Code : 230737

Tehran and Moscow reportedly plan to prepare Hamadan base for Russian warplanes

Moscow and Tehran are currently in negotiations over the redeployment of Russian bombers to the Hamadan airbase in Iran so that they could resume their counterterrorism missions in Syria, Izvestiya reported, citing an unnamed source in military and diplomatic circles. Moscow first sent its planes to the Iranian airstrip in August.

Both countries are said tobe planning toadjust the base forthe possible deployment. "It will take a week and Antonov An-124 Ruslan and Ilyushin Il-76 strategic airlifters will have tomake dozens offlights toprepare Hamadan tohost Russian bombers, Sukhoi Su-34s and Tupolev Tu-22M3s," the source said. The scope ofwork is impressive.

Russia will ostensibly have todeploy land-based power-driven aircraft beacons, radio communications sets, fuel servicing trucks, electrical ground power units, avionics control and preflight systems and other land-based equipment. "The most important step is todeploy enough air-launched weapons and loaders needed toload airborne weapons aboardthe planes," the source noted.

The source added that there is no need toconstruct special hangars forthe planes sinceweather conditions atthe base are good. If need be, these facilities could be erected inone totwo weeks.

Russian planes carried outseveral counterterrorism missions inSyria from Hamadan inmid-August. The deployment lasted approximately a week and was the first ofits kind inIran's modern history. Igor Zotov, a member ofthe Russian State Duma's Defense Committee, welcomed the step, saying that "any means, including the redeployment ofthe Russian Aerospace Forces toHamadan, are good forcounterterrorism."

"We need tojoin efforts withother countries fighting againstterrorism. If Russia returns tothe Iranian base, I think it will be forthe best. Hamadan is an airfield that directly affects" these efforts, he told Izvestiya.

Political analyst Sergei Voronin told the daily that Russia and Iran will reach a compromise onHamadan inthe nearfuture. "There was an issue ofmisunderstanding that both sides will deal withsoon. Iran was not happy that the information [on Russia's deployment toHamadan] was made public inMoscow. In Tehran's opinion, Iranian leadership was supposed tobreak the news first or the work had tobe done behindclosed doors, likebefore," he observed. Some inIran were said tohave been discontent that Russia's deployment tothe base generated extensive media coverage.

By Sputnik News
https://theiranproject.com/vdcbfgb5zrhbfzp.4eur.html
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