Russia has stopped the use of Iran's Hamadan airbase, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Monday, August 22, as cited by Tasnim news agency.

The Russian side has yet to issue an official comment on the matter, Sputnik says.

Iran will not transfer control of Hamadan air base, from which Tehran allowed Moscow to carry out strikes against terrorist groups inside Syria, to Russia, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan said Monday.

On August 16, Russia used the Iranian base for the first time in its anti-terrorism campaign in Syria. Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and Su-34 strike aircraft carried out airstrikes against the jihadist groups Islamic State and the Jabhat Fatah Al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front, in Syria.

Also, Iran's defense minister criticized Russia for having "kind of show-off and ungentlemanly" attitude for publicizing that it used an Iranian air base to launch airstrikes on Syria, the first sign of government dissent over the unprecedented stationing of foreign troops in the Islamic Republic.