In an article titled “Russia uses Iranian airbase for first time in Syria campaign”, written by Saeed Kamali Dehghan and carried by The Guardian, the journalist brought up the interesting historical fact that:
“Hosting Russian jets on Iranian territory is a departure for Tehran from its hitherto history of covert operations in regional conflicts. It is believed to be the first time Russian warplanes have been deployed in Iran in at least half a century.”
Dehghan quoted Morad Veisi, an expert on Iran’s armed forces, who analyzed that:
“It’s Iran’s reaction to Saudi Arabia, and saying that it will stand by Assad in spite of Saudi threats.”
Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute in London, was on record as saying that:
“The willingness to host foreign forces on your oil soil is a big diplomatic and political step. Just like other countries including India, Iranians have always had a historical aversion to any foreign deployment on their soil.”
Boris Volkhonsky, Head of the Asian Section at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (studio guest) and Mohammad Marandi, Professor at the University of Tehran commented on the topic.
