Russia on Saturday condemned the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran as “a premeditated and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent member state of the United Nations” and demanded an immediate halt to military operations and the resumption of diplomacy.
In a statement posted on Telegram, the foreign ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.
It warned that the attacks risked triggering a “humanitarian, economic and possible radiological catastrophe” in the region and accused the United States and Israel of “plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation”.
Russia has become Iran’s main trading partner and supplier of weapons and technology, and Iran faces tough international sanctions. While Russia’s foreign ministry was quick to condemn the U.S. and Israeli attacks, the Kremlin is likely to carefully assess its response after the recent warming of relations between Moscow and Washington.
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to mediate an end to the conflict in Ukraine, and Moscow and Washington discussed ways to restore economic ties.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi. Araghchi briefed Lavrov on Iran’s attempts to repel the attack and said Iran would seek to convene an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Lavrov reiterated Russia’s condemnation of the US-Israeli attack and said Moscow was willing to help broker peace.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin discussed the situation in Iran with the Russian Security Council via video conference, but gave no details.
In a foreign ministry statement, Moscow called the bombing of nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards “unacceptable” and said it stood ready to help broker a peaceful solution, while placing full blame for the escalation on the United States and Israel.
“Responsibility for the negative consequences of this man-made crisis, including unpredictable ripple effects and escalating violence, lies squarely with them,” the statement said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also condemned what it called “a series of destabilizing attacks by the United States government,” accusing the United States of attacking “the international legal pillars of the world order.”
For decades, Russia has maintained a delicate balance in the Middle East, trying to maintain friendly relations with Israel even as it developed strong economic and military ties with Iran.
The Iranian military and the Russian navy last week conducted annual exercises in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean aimed at “strengthening operational coordination and exchanging military experience,” Iran’s state-run Islamic News Agency reported.
Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a broad cooperation agreement last January, deepening their partnership in the face of tough Western sanctions.
The West claims that after Putin sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, Russia and Iran signed a $1.7 billion Shahid drone agreement. The United States also believes that Iran has transferred short-range ballistic missiles, but neither Moscow nor Tehran has acknowledged these actions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed support for strikes against Iran, calling Iran “Putin’s accomplice” because it supplied Moscow with Shahid drones and the technology to produce them and other weapons during its four-year war with Ukraine.
Russia and Iran also worked together to support Bashar al-Assad’s government during the Syrian civil war but failed to prevent his fall after a lightning offensive by the opposition. Assad and his family fled to Russia.
Some observers in Moscow believe that the focus on the confrontation between Israel and Iran could benefit Russia by distracting global attention from the war in Ukraine and potentially weakening Western support for Kiev.