Iran showed Russia that it needs to play by its rulebook, no matter how powerful and influential they are. In a setback to Russia, Iran announced that it is halting the use of its airbase by Russian jets over a show-off. The decision from Iran came within days after Russia went public about the use of one of Tehran’s airbase in Hamadan. Russia went public with that information that its Tupolev Tu-22 M3 bombers and Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers are using the airbase in Hamadan to hit targets in Syria.

Russia’s boasting took the western countries by surprise as it is the first time a foreign power has used Iran’s military facilities, since the Second World War. The news that Russian warplanes were flying from the Islamic republic shocked Iranians and sparked criticism from some parliamentarians. Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a member of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, said that it was a breach of the constitution. “We have concerns for historical reasons……The largest number of Iranians martyred during the Iran-Iraq war was by Russian weapons.

The five-year-long war is Syria wages on as the U.S. and Saudi Arabia wanting to topple Assad while Russia and Iran prefer to see him continue.