The Russian military said on Monday its aircraft operating from an Iranian air base to conduct strikes in Syria had completed their tasks, but left open the possibility of using the Hamedan base again, if circumstances warranted. Iran’s Foreign Ministry had said earlier in the day that Russia had stopped using the base for strikes in Syria. “Russian military aircraft that took part in the operation and conducted air strikes from Iran’s Hamedan air base on terrorist targets in Syria have successfully completed all tasks,” a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Major-General Igor Konashenkov, said in a statement, according to Reuters. “The further use of Hamedan air base in the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Russian Aerospace Forces will be carried out on the basis of mutual agreements to fight terrorism, depending on the prevailing circumstances in Syria,” Konashenkov said. Last week, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used the Nojeh air base, near the western city of Hamedan, to launch air strikes against armed groups in Syria.
