While the mullahs’ regime ruling Iran refuses to publish the content of its disgraceful 25-year deal with China, reports indicate the terms involve transferring unprecedented privileges and control to China regarding the island of Kish in Iran’s southern waters and massive economic incentives in return for China’s military and regional support.
Regarding the regime’s relations with China it is worth noting that flights of Mahan Air, affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), to China continued during the novel coronavirus crisis. This allowed the transfer of the virus from China to the city of Qom and other parts of Iran, raising widespread protests regarding the relations between China and the Iranian regime and IRGC.
“Last week, the Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei] agreed to the extension of the existing deal to include new military elements that were proposed by the same senior figures in the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and the intelligence services that proposed the original deal, and this will involve complete aerial and naval military co-operation between Iran and China, with Russia also taking a key role,” a source told OilPrice.com recently.
“There is a meeting scheduled in the second week of August between the same Iranian group, and their Chinese and Russian counterparts, that will agree the remaining details but, provided that goes as planned, then as of 9 November, Sino-Russian bombers, fighters, and transport planes will have unrestricted access to Iranian air bases,” the source told OilPrice.com. “This process will begin with purpose-built dual-use facilities next to the existing airports at Hamedan, Bandar Abbas, Chabhar, and Abadan.”
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In parallel, these deployments will be accompanied by the roll-out of Chinese and Russian electronic warfare (EW) capabilities, sources told OilPrice.com. Part of the new military co-operation will also include an exchange of personnel between Iran, China and Russia, with up to 110 senior IRGC members going for training every year in Beijing and Moscow and 110 Chinese and Russians going to Tehran for their training.