Iran on Monday (22 August) said that Russia would stop the use of its air base for strikes on militant camps in Syria. This comes a week after the Russian defence minister announced that Moscow's war planes had flown from an Iranian base to strike Islamic State (Isis) targets.

Bahram Qasemi, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman told Tasnim news agency: "Russia has no base in Iran and is not stationed here. They did this (operation) and it is finished for now."

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The use of air base also drew criticism from Iranian parliamentarians, who said that it breached the Islamic Republic's constitution.

Hossein Dehghan, Iran's defence minister, dismissed the criticism but rebuked Russia saying that it was "inconsiderate" and was "showing off" the use of air base to launch air strikes.

"Naturally, the Russians are keen to show that they are a superpower and an influential country and that they are active in security issues in the region and the world. There has been a kind of showing-off and inconsiderate attitude behind the announcement of this news," he said in an interview to Iran's Channel 2 television channel on Sunday.

Russian Tupolev 22-M3 and Sukhoi-34 fighter jets were sent from Shahid Nojeh air base, near the city of Hamedan, in northwest Iran to strike targets in Syria, a move that confirmed Moscow's increasing closeness to Tehran.

Iran and Russia are the staunchest allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. International calls for Assad to step down from power have been firmly opposed by both Tehran and Moscow. The civil war that began in March 2011 has killed more than 290,000 people.