Russian Bombers Using Iran’s Airbase for Refuelling Only: Cleric

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader, stressed that Iran has never put its airbase at the disposal of Russian warplanes and neither will it do so in the future.

According to a report by IRNA, as translated by IFP, Ayatollah Khatami, who is also a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, emphasized that Russian warplanes landed in Nojeh airbase in Hamadan just for refuelling.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has never dedicated its airbase to Russians’ military operations,” Khatami said in an address in Imam Khomeini’s Mosalla Mosque in Iran’s Western city of Shahr-e Kord.

Refuelling is pretty common and frequently seen in different parts of the world, Khatami said, adding, “Russian warplanes which were heading to Syria for bombing ISIS positions had a brief stop just for refueling.”

On August 16, Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 frontline bombers, flying with a full bomb load from the Nojeh airbase located in Iran’s western city of Hamadan, conducted a group air strike against targets of ISIS in Syria.

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