Vladimir Putin has asked Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for a restrained response to Israel's suspected killing of the leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh.
The message, in which the Russian President said he understood the need for retaliation but asked the Islamic Republic not to target Israeli civilians, was delivered on Monday by Sergei Shoigu, a senior ally of the Kremlin leader.
Shoigu met with Iran's new president Masoud Pezeshkian earlier this week before holding a series of meetings with top Iranian officials as the Islamic Republic weighs its response to last week's assassination of Haniyeh.
Iranian sources described Shoigu's visit as one of several avenues Moscow had used to relay to Iran the need for restraint while at the same time condemning Haniyeh's killing as 'a very dangerous assassination', in a bid to prevent a Middle East war.
Two sources with knowledge of the matter did not provide further details on the talks with Shoigu, who was defence minister before becoming the secretary of Russia's security council in May.
But they warned that the Middle East is on the brink of a major conflict, and said those behind the assassination of Haniyeh are bent on triggering a wider war.
Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and for months has been preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with Tehran.
Neither Iranian nor Russian officials have offered comment on this week's talks, but Russia's state-run RIA news agency reported yesterday that Shoigu confirmed the assassination of Hamas' Haniyeh in Tehran, and Iran's response, were topics of discussion.
1 comment:
Iran's blustering has backfired. They never espected public opposition from Jordan and Saudi. They never expected the Americans to build up their military. And now this statement of "support" from Russia.
I suspect (and am usually wrong, though) that we'll get another token attack that destroys a Bedouin cow shed in the Negev.
Post a Comment