Last week, Russia revealed that it was using an Iranian airbase to attack targets inside Syria, and Iran on Monday suggested that this arrangement was supposed to be kept secret. Russia "will use the base for a very short and fixed span, corresponding (to) operation in Syria," said Iran's defense minister, Gen. Hossein Dehghan, as quoted on state TV. "Russians are interested to show they are a superpower to guarantee their share in political future of Syria and, of course, there has been a kind of show-off and ungentlemanly (attitude) in this field."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi also said on Monday that Russia had used the base but "is finished for now," according to the Tasnim news agency. The disclosure that Russia is using Shahid Nojeh Air Base appeared to be unpopular with Iran's public, and Dehghan was responding to a pointed question from parliament as to why Iran had not announced the arrangement first. Like many things in the region, there is history behind the diplomatic brouhaha, The Associated Press notes: Russia invaded Iran in World War II alongside Britain to secure oilfields and Allied supply routes, but unlike Britain, Russia refused to leave after the war was over.
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