Reneging on allowing Russia to use its Shahid Nojeh Air Base, the Iranian Foreign Ministry criticized Moscow what it called a “kind of show-off and ungentlemanly” public attitude. Showing complex relationships that exist in the Syrian War, Russia embarrassed Iran’s conservative mullah government last week, announcing they’d fly bombing missions against terrorists from Iranian soil. Iran’s Shiite government walks a razor’s edge with Sunni governments around the Middle East and North Africa. When Russia announced last week they’d be flying bombing missions out of Iran, its Sunni neighbors protested loudly, especially Iran’s strained relationship with Saudi Arabia. Russia backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian War, the exact opposite position taken by Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. Russian fights directly against Saudi-U.S.-Turkey- backed rebel groups in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to play all sides against the middle, especially when it comes to the United States. Knowing the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Tehran, despite handing over $400 million, signing the Iran Nuke Deal with Tehran July 24, 2015. Since the Nov. 4, 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, the U.S. has no diplomatic relations. Putin likes to capitalize on strained U.S. diplomatic relations, moving in where he sees an opening. Flying bombing missions out of Iran irked the State Department where they struggle to maintain civil relations with Moscow. Since President Barack Obama took office Jan. 20, 2009, U.S.-Russian relations deteriorated to Cold War lows. Backing the Saudi proxy war in Syria, Obama directly pits U.S. interests against Russia, driving the biggest wedge with the Kremlin since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Told they can no longer fly bombing missions out of Iran, Russia’s Defense Minister tried to minimize the embarrassment, insisting the could fly missions:”depending on the situation.” Iran;s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei didn’t like Putin boasting of using an Iranian air base. “It’s finished for now,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Bhasemi. Gen. Hossein Dehghan confirmed that Russia “will use the base for a very short and fixed span,” suggesting that his decision ran afoul with Ayatollah Khamenei. “Russians are interested to show they are a superpower to guarantee their share in political future of Syria and, of course, there has bee a kind of show-off and ungentlemanly [attitude] in this field,” said Dehghan. Deghan’s statement is designed to undo the political fallout from allowing Russia to use an Iranian air base without the Ayatollah’s approval.
Iranians hoped that their Moscow counterparts would act discreetly rather than broadcasting the new military alliance. Flying bombing missions out of Iran rankled the White House, where there’s great concern about Obama’s deteriorated relationship with Putin. When you consider what’s happened to U.S.-Russian relations since Putin invaded Crimea March 1, 2014, things couldn’t get much worse. Putin hoped to sell Iran Sukhoi-30 figher jets and to deploy Russia’s S-300 missile defense system. With Iran’s restrictions under the Nuke Deal with a the P5+1, including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany, purchasing offensive weapons would violate terms of the Nuke Agreement. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani touted over the weekend Iran’s Bavar-272 missile defense system, something similar in range to the Russian S-300 missile defense system.
Entering into overt military alliances with Russia antagonizes Sunni Arab States, especially Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council, currently aligning themselves with the U.S. Putin hoped that by letting Russia use an Iranian air base he’d be in a better position to sell Iran more military hardware. “When we make Bavar-373 operational, we will not need to purchase another high altitude and long-rang air defense system,” said Dehghan. Fighting Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States in Aleppo, Russia and Iran are in a proxy war with Wahhabi Sunni groups in Syria. Since the failed July 16 coup in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has drifted from the West, accusing 75-year-old pro-Western Sufi cleric Fethullah Gulen to sabotaging his Salafi government. Erdogan has no trust for the Kurds, the U.S.’s main surrogate group fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS].
After yesterday’s teenage ISIS suicide bombing at a Turkish wedding killing 53, injuring scores more, Erdogan promised to renew his fight against the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party] and YPG [Peoples Protection Units]. Pitting Turkish forces against the U.S. and Russia, Turkey doesn’t know where it stands in the Syrian War, ignoring ISIS and al-Qaeda and using ISIS-based terror as an excuse to attack the Kurds. With U.N. Humanitarian Chief Stephen O’Brian calling for an urgent 48-hour ceasefire in Aleppo, the Turks and Saudis show no signs to giving up their fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Warning of a “humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in over five years of bloodshed,” O’Brian told the Security Council that Aleppo has been bombed daily. With Russia and the U.S. at loggerheads in Syria, the Saudis continue their relentless proxy war against al-Assad.
