Tehran : Russia has stopped using an Iranian air base for launching airstrikes on Syria for the time being, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said, just hours after the Iranian defense minister criticized Moscow for having “kind of show-off and ungentlemanly” attitude by publicizing their actions.
There was no immediate response from Moscow, which had used the Shahid Nojeh Air Base to refuel its bombers striking Syria at least three times last week, reports AP.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters that the Russian airstrikes on militants in Syria were “temporary, based on a Russian request.” “It is finished, for now,” Ghasemi said. Last week, Russia announced it used the airfield, located some 50 kilometers north of the Iranian city of Hamedan. Iranian officials only confirmed Russia’s presence a day later. The comments by Gen. Hossein Dehghan came after he chastised parliament this weekend for asking questions about Russia using the base. Responding to a question about why Iran didn’t initially announce Russia’s presence at the airfield, Dehghan appeared prickly on the state TV broadcast.
