Russia does not feel obliged to condemn Iran’s missile and drone strikes on Israel on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said. The diplomat explained that West Jerusalem has never denounced Ukraine’s attacks on Russian civilians.
According to Israeli estimates, Tehran’s latest show of force involved hundreds of rockets and missiles, as well as kamikaze UAVs. Iran announced that the strike was in response to the “Zionist regime’s numerous crimes, including the attack on the consular section of Iran’s Embassy in Damascus.”
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A presumed Israeli airstrike hit Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria on April 1, killing seven officers of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, including two high-ranking generals.
Iranian state media has claimed that a number of Israeli military facilities were struck in Saturday’s attack. The Israeli military, in turn, has insisted that its air defenses shot down nearly all of the incoming projectiles.
In a post on her Telegram channel on Sunday, Zakharova addressed the Israeli Ambassador to Russia, Simona Halperin, who had earlier told RIA Novosti that her country expects “our Russian colleagues to condemn the unprecedented Iranian attack on Israeli territory.”
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The Israeli envoy also expressed hope that Moscow would counter “Iran’s attempts to destabilize the region.”
Zakharova responded: “Simona, remind me of when Israel condemned even a single strike by the Kiev regime on Russian regions? You don’t know? Nor do I.”
The foreign ministry representative also cited “regular statements in support of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky’s actions on the part of Israeli officials.”
In another statement on Sunday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that Moscow is “deeply concerned with another dangerous escalation in the region.”
“We call on all parties involved to exercise restraint. We hope that regional states will solve existing problems through political and diplomatic means,” the ministry added.
Tensions between Israel and Iran have been escalating since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza broke out last October. Israeli authorities claimed that Tehran orchestrated the deadly Hamas incursion that triggered the conflict.
Iran has denied involvement, but pledged to keep backing the Palestinian cause.