Red Sea port of Hodeidah, Yemen,

Tehran is interested in setting up naval bases in both Syria and Yemen, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has quoted the country’s chief of staff of the armed forces as saying.

The Saturday report by Tasnim quotes Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying, “Maybe, at some point we will need bases on the shores of Yemen and Syria.”

He said: “Having naval bases in remote distances is not less than nuclear power. It is ten times more important and creates deterrence.”

Gen. Bagheri added that setting up naval platforms off the shores of those countries requires “infrastructures there first.”

Following its interventionist policy, Iran is currently helping Shiite rebels in Yemen and the Syrian regime.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Defense Ministry said it plans to modernize the air force fleet but denied reports that it wanted to buy Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter planes, news agencies reported.

Several agencies quoted Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan as saying “the purchase of this fighter is on the agenda of the Defense Ministry” when asked about the Sukhoi aircraft, but some later said the ministry had called the reports “incorrect.”

The ministry’s website quoted Dehghan as saying only that “reinforcing and providing the needs of the air force are among the priorities of the Defense Ministry,” without referring to any specific purchase plans.

Earlier this year, Dehghan said Tehran and Moscow had started talks on the supply of the Sukhoi fighters to Iran.

In August, Tehran allowed Russian planes to use a base in Western Iran in their strikes in support of the Syrian government which Moscow and Tehran both support. The unprecedented deployment was criticized by the US and some Iranian lawmakers.

Asked about any plans to let the Russian air force use the base, Dehghan said: “If necessary, Iran will once again allow Russian jets to fly from Hamedan’s Nojeh air base.”

Dehghan declined to comment on a Russian report that Russia and Iran were in talks over arms deals worth $10 billion. “On this matter, you’ll have to ask the Russians,” said Dehghan, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

In a separate development, the Saudi-led Arab coalition against Yemeni rebels said the Kingdom’s air defense intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Yemeni territories toward Khamis Mushyat, SPA reported quoting the coalition central command. No damage was reported. The coalition forces immediately targeted the origin of the rocket, it said.

Yemen’s internationally recognized President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi flew into Aden from his base in Saudi Arabia on Saturday on a surprise visit to the headquarters of his government, an aide said.

[vuukle]