Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Russia can use its military bases to launch airstrikes against militants in Syria on a "case by case basis". 

Russia and Iran are both key allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and have played decisive roles in the past 18 months to turn the tide of the Syrian conflict in his favour. Russian jets used an air base in Iran to launch attacks on militant targets in Syria last summer. It was the first time a foreign power had used an Iranian base since World War Two. 

The deployment ended abruptly however after some Iranian lawmakers called the move a breach of Iran's constitution which forbids foreign military bases, and the Iranian defense minister chided Moscow for publicizing the arrangement.

(Source: Reuters)

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