Editor’s Word – Who is “Foreign”?

Tuesday, August 17, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Russian bombers used an airbase in Hamadan, located in western Iran, to bomb the positions of opponents of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Tuesday, August 17, following the release of this news, the official news agency of the Islamic Republic (IRNA), citing Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, described the goal of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow as fighting terrorism and strategic. Ali Shamkhani, confirming the statements of the Russian Ministry of Defense, announced that “the long-range Tupolev-22 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter-bombers of the Russian army attacked the positions of Bashar al-Assad’s opponents from the Nowzheh (Shahrokhi) Air Base in Hamadan.”

Wednesday, August 18, Mark Toner, spokesman for the U.S. State Department, while expressing regret over the handover of Hamadan Air Base from the four-lane Nowzheh Air Base for Russian Tupolev aircraft to attack al-Assad’s opponents, announced news. He stated that Russia’s use of an Iranian military base to carry out military operations in Syria, according to Resolution 2231, which prohibits the sale or transfer of any military aircraft to Iran, is a violation of United Nations resolutions.

We remind you that according to Article 146 of Iran’s Constitution, the establishment of any foreign military base in the country, even if for peaceful uses, is prohibited.

The response of officials of the Islamic government of Iran to the statements of Ali Shamkhani is interesting in its own way.

Wednesday, August 18, Ali Larijani announced in an open session of Parliament that “Iran has not placed any military base at the disposal of other countries and cooperation with Russia is only in line with addressing the terrorism crisis in the region.”

Wednesday, August 18, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, said in an interview with IRNA that “the flight of Russian aircraft from the Nowzheh base in Hamadan is based on a resolution of the Supreme National Security Council.”

Wednesday, August 18, Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to Ali Khamenei, leader of the Islamic Republic, said that “strategic relations with Russia require obligations, including mutual cooperation in fighting terrorism and American attacks and their allies against our allies.”

Thursday, August 19, Mahmoud Sadeghi, representative of Tehran in Parliament, said that a letter signed by twenty representatives containing a request to hold a closed session to review the issuance of a permit for the use of Russian fighters from Nowzheh Air Base in Hamadan was submitted to the Speaker of Parliament. It is likely that this session will be held on Sunday.

Thursday, August 19, the Al-Alam news system, affiliated with the Islamic government of Iran, published an article in its English section titled “Russia also wants NATO military base in Turkey for attacks against ISIS in Syria.”

I must admit that in the world of news, there are matters that do not require interpretation and analysis. The flow of news also carries with it the analysis of news. If you look at the statements of Iranian government officials, you will notice that not only the members of the legislative parliament, but also the Speaker of the Legislative Branch were unaware of the deficiency of Article 146 of the Constitution.

An important question arises: in Iran’s Islamic system, who is “one of us” and who is “foreign”?

More foreign than the gentlemen representatives and the Speaker of Parliament for making such an important decision are the eighty million Iranians who should hear about the handover of Nowzheh (Shahrokhi) Air Base from the Russian Ministry of Defense. The eyes of the Iranian people, after the incompetence of Iran’s ninth and tenth governments, have now opened to the handover of air bases as well. Something that has been unprecedented since World War II.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, is on the verge of realizing Peter the Great’s long-held dream of reaching warm waters through Iran, the Black Sea, and then the Mediterranean. A dream that even the most incompetent Qajar kings had prevented.

News of thousands of billions of tomans in thefts by those in power in Iran has turned into embezzlements of billions of dollars in oil money. And now, the handover of air bases to Russia. It seems that the trend of the Iranian people becoming “foreign” is accelerating every day. Every moment we worry what new branch will come from this garden! Soon we may be forced to add “ov” or “vich” to the end of our names.

It seems that the people of Iran are the ones who have no share in Iran’s present and future.

CNN News Room