Russia on Saturday condemned the US-Israeli strikes on Iran as a “premeditated and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state”, demanding an immediate halt to military operations and a return to diplomacy.
In a statement posted to Telegram, the Foreign Ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.
It warned of the risk of triggering a “humanitarian, economic and possibly radiological catastrophe” in the region and accused the US and Israel of “plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation”.
Russia has emerged as an important trading partner and supplier of weapons and technology to Iran, which faces international sanctions. While the Russian Foreign Ministry was quick to condemn the US-Israeli attack, the Kremlin is carefully assessing its response after the recent warming of relations between Moscow and Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised US President Donald Trump’s efforts to mediate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, and Moscow and Washington have discussed ways to revive their economic ties.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi by phone, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Araghchi briefed Lavrov on Iran’s efforts to repel the attack and said Iran would try to call an emergency session of the UN Security Council. Lavrov reiterated Russia’s condemnation of US-Israeli attacks and Moscow’s readiness to help broker peace.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had discussed the situation in Iran with Russia’s Security Council via video conference, but did not provide details.
In a Foreign Ministry statement, Moscow called the bombing of nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards “unacceptable” and said it was ready to help broker a peaceful resolution, placing full responsibility for the escalation on the United States and Israel.
“The responsibility for the negative consequences of this man-made crisis, including the unintended chain reaction and spiraling violence, rests squarely on them,” the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called “a series of destabilizing attacks carried out by the US administration”, accusing the US of attacking “the international legal pillars of the world order”.
Russia has operated a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm ties with Israel even as it has developed strong economic and military ties with Iran.
Iranian forces and Russian sailors last week held annual exercises in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean aimed at “updating operational coordination as well as exchanging military experiences”.
Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezheshkian signed a broad cooperation agreement in January last year as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of Western sanctions.
The West alleges that Russia and Iran signed a $1.7 billion deal for Shahed drones in 2022 after Putin sent troops to Ukraine, and the US believes Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles, but neither Moscow nor Tehran have ever acknowledged the moves.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed support for the attacks on Iran, calling it “Putin’s accomplice” for supplying Moscow with Shahed drones and the technology to produce them and other weapons during the four-year war against Ukraine.
During Syria’s civil war, Russia and Iran combined their efforts to prop up Bashar Assad’s government, but failed to prevent his fall after a lightning offensive by opponents. Assad and his family fled to Russia.
Some observers in Moscow argue that focusing on the confrontation between Israel and Iran could distract global attention from the war in Ukraine and play into Russian hands by undermining Western support for Kyiv.
(tags to translate)Russia Ukraine War
