MOSCOW: Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday warned the United States not to take military action against Iran, amid speculation over whether Washington will enter the war alongside Israel.
Moscow issued its warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a phone call condemned Israeli attacks on Iran and urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes at Iran last week, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel’s strikes. “I may do it, I may not do it,“ he said.
Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation.”
Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences”, she added.
Earlier on Thursday, following the leaders’ call, the Kremlin said Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions”.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities “should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means”.
– ‘Mediate your own’ –
Xi told Putin that a ceasefire was the “top priority” and urged Israel to halt its attacks, Chinese state media reported.
“Promoting a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities is the top priority. Armed force is not the correct way to resolve international disputes,“ Xi said, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua.
“Parties to the conflict, especially Israel, should cease hostilities as soon as possible to prevent a cyclical escalation and resolutely avoid the spillover of the war,“ he added.
Putin is pitching himself as a mediator between the warring sides.
Russia is close to Iran, having boosted military ties amid its offensive on Ukraine, but also strives for good relations with Israel.
Last week, Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering himself as a peacemaker.
The Kremlin said that Xi had spoken “in favour of such mediation, since he believes that it could serve to de-escalate the current situation”, Ushakov said.
But Western leaders, including US President Donald Trump and France’s Emmanuel Macron have pushed back against the idea of Putin trying to mediate the conflict amid his own Ukraine offensive.
“He actually offered to help mediate, I said: ‘do me a favour, mediate your own’,“ Trump told reporters on Wednesday about Putin’s efforts.
“Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? I said, Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first, you can worry about this later.”
