Russian Federation Council Set to Ratify Air Group Deployment in Iran

A member of Russia's Upper House of Parliament said Tuesday that Russian lawmakers are ready to ratify an agreement with Iran to deploy the Russian Aerospace Forces’ grouping at the Hamadan airbase.

Russia's Ministry of Defense confirmed earlier in the day its Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bombers and Su-34 strike aircraft took off from the Hamadan airfield to conduct airstrikes against terrorist groups in Syria, Sputnik reported.

"Similar to the ratification of the agreement with Syria on the deployment of our air group, ratification with Iran may be required. The Federation Council I think is ready to make this decision," Senior member of Russian Federation Council, Sen. Viktor Ozerov said.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted for ratification by the lower house an agreement with Syria on the deployment of Russia’s air grouping in the Arab republic.

Background on this from Katehon expert Andrew Korybko:

In a masterstroke of geopolitics, Russia evidently has been very diligently working behind the scenes to station some of its air assets in Iran. Not only does this broaden its base of attack against Daesh and the other terrorist groups occupying Syria right now, but it makes Russia a direct stakeholder in Iran's territorial integrity, which is being threatened by cross-border Kurdish terrorists at this very moment.

Furthermore, the fact that Russian air assets are based in Iran in the first place is a significant victory for Iran's 'conservative' multipolar forces, since it can be inferred that it was the Ayatollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that pressed for this to happen, not the Western-friendly 'moderates' led by Rouhani. From the internal perspective of Iranian politics, this is a very strong signal that the 'conservatives' will not allow the 'moderates' to determine foreign policy any more, no matter how much influence they presently exert over the economic and energy sectors.

Lastly, Russia wouldn't have been able to deploy its units to Iran without causing a major regional disruption had it not been for the stunning success of the Russian-Turkish rapprochement. If Russia and Turkey wouldn't have reconciled at the highest levels of strategic coordination, Ankara would have undoubtedly seen the deployment of Russian air assets in Iran as clear proof of 'encirclement' and 'hostility' by Moscow and Tehran.

In evaluating this headline-grabbing event and analyzing it together with the emerging Russian-led 'Concert of Great Powers' in the Mideast, it should be clear to all observers that each diplomatic vector (Russia-Turkey, Turkey-Iran, Russia-Iran) is now focused on progressively finding a solution to the War on Syria, and while it will indeed take time for this to yield the results that many excited observers are eager to see, it's a profound step in the right direction and irrefutable evidence that all sides are moving towards this shared goal.