Iran's parliament on Tuesday pushed back against the military over it dismissing civilian oversight following Russia's use of an Iranian air base to launch airstrikes on Syria. It also highlights the public unpopularity of allowing Russia to use the air base — which marked the first time since the revolution that a foreign military has used Iran as a staging ground. Dehghan over the weekend said Russia's use of the air base was not their concern, though parliament has oversight of all government ministries. Three other semi-official news agencies quoted Larijani as saying the Russian flights from the air base, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the city of Hamedan, "have not stopped." Comments by Iranian officials since Russia announced using the base last week suggest Moscow and Tehran initially agreed to keep Russian use of the air base quiet.

Source: dna August 23, 2016 07:07 UTC