Putin Sends Bold Message to Iran and Israel

Amid rapidly intensifying hostilities between Israel and Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin held telephonic conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday, June 13.

Knewz.com has learned that the Russian President strongly condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran and expressed his condolences to the authorities and citizens of the Russian allied nation.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out massive air strikes on Iran early morning on Friday, June 13, targeting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

The pre-dawn airstrikes, dubbed “Operation Rising Lion” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marked the most significant Israeli military action against Iran to date and were aimed at “rolling back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

“In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has never taken before, steps to weaponise this enriched uranium, and if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time. It could be a year. It could be within a few months, less than a year. That is why we have no choice but to act and act now. The hardest decision any leader has to make is sworn in danger before it is fully materialised,” Netanyahu said in his statement.

Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister of Iran, has called the latest airstrikes carried out by Israel a “declaration of war,” with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning that Israel would face a “severe punishment” over the attacks after state media confirmed top Iranian military officials and scientists had been killed in the strikes.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also alleged the United States‘ “coordination and approval” of the early morning airstrikes in a statement, despite Secretary of State Marco Rubio trying to distance Washington from the attack.

Following President Putin’s conversation with the Iranian President and the Israeli Prime Minister, the Kremlin released a statement which read:

“Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia condemned Israel’s actions, which had been carried out in violation of the UN Charter and international law. The Russian side has been fully supporting the efforts to resolve the situation around Iran’s nuclear programme peacefully and has proposed concrete initiatives aimed at reaching mutually acceptable agreements.”

“Russia will continue to promote a de-escalation between Iran and Israel,” the statement further said.

It has been reported that in the week leading up to the Israeli strikes on Iran, Russia had offered to remove the highly enriched uranium from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel as a potential way to calm the rising tensions between the two entities over the Islamic Republic’s swiftly advancing uranium enrichment program.

“This proposal remains on the table, it remains relevant. But, of course, with the outbreak of hostilities, the situation has become seriously complicated,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a statement on Monday, June 16.

During his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Putin “expressed willingness to provide mediation so as to prevent further escalation,” according to the statement released by the Kremlin.

“In his conversation with the Prime Minister of Israel, the President of Russia emphasised the importance of resuming the negotiations and resolving any issues pertaining to Iran’s nuclear programme exclusively via political and diplomatic means,” the statement further read.

Konstantin Kosachev, Vice Speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament and head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, stated in a previous announcement that Moscow would stand by its ally, Iran.

“Israel’s actions cannot be justified from a legal, political, military or moral point of view. The only hope, albeit illusory, of avoiding a full-scale war is a consolidated condemnation of this operation by the international community,” Kosachev said in a statement to reporters.

“Netanyahu said that Israel struck ‘at the heart of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.’ In reality, there are many more strikes … And the most unfortunate thing is that this is not the end of the story. An Iranian response to Israel is inevitable, the vicious circle of escalation is rapidly spiraling upward,” he added.

It is worth noting that in retaliation against Israel, Iran unleashed a barrage of over 150 ballistic missiles and 100 drones toward Israeli targets later on Friday, triggering nationwide air raid alerts. However, the IDF reported that Israel’s Iron Dome and Arrow defense systems intercepted the vast majority of incoming projectiles.

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