A US State Department official said that Russia’s use of the Hamadan air base in Iran is “unfortunate but not surprising” for the US.
Photo: the Russian Defense Ministry
On Tuesday, a US State Department official said that Russia’s use of the Hamadan air base in Iran for carrying out air strikes in Syria is “unfortunate but not surprising.” The official also added that the extent of Russian-Iranian cooperation is still being assessed by Washington.
According to Mark Toner, State Department spokesman, the fact of Russia’s use of the Iranian base would not necessarily prevent the United States from reaching an agreement about cooperating with Moscow in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
At the same time, he also added that they “are not there yet” on a cooperation deal and noted that Moscow has continued to carry out airstrikes against Syrian moderate opposition, which is supported by the US.
However, already on Wednesday, the State Department said that US government attorneys are looking at whether Russia has violated the UN Security Council Resolution №2231 on military dealings with Tehran.
The resolution was passed as part of the Iran nuclear deal and governs some military interactions between Iran and other countries, including the supply, sale or transfer of military technologies or the provision of training or financial assistance related to the acquisition of new technologies.
“As I understand it, it’s not just supplying the Iranians certain weapons or certain offensive weaponry. It’s more complex than that,” Toner said. “Our lawyers are looking at it. We haven’t made an assessment,” he added.
The US official also noted that Russia’s use of the base in Iran is not “helpful because … it continues to complicate what is already a very dangerous situation.”
A representative of the Russian Defense Ministry advised the US State Department “to check for logic and knowledge of the fundamental documents of the international law,” noting that the resolution refers to the need to obtain permission of the UN Security Council for “selling”, “transfer” or “use” of combat aircraft “inside of Iran”.
