ENTRE News – Russia and the United States joined forces to persuade Iran to cancel its retaliatory attack on Israel after the Hamas leader was killed in Tehran. Two Iranian sources said Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for a restrained response. Putin also reportedly advised Iran not to attack Israeli civilians. The message, sources continued, was delivered when a Russian delegation led by Kremlin Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu visited Iran.
During the meeting, Iranian officials urged Russia to send Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets. The sources said Shoigu’s visit was one of several methods Russia was using to ask Iran to exercise restraint. They also said that the Middle East was on the verge of a major war after Haniyeh’s death. Relations between Russia and Iran have become closer since the Red Bear Country launched its invasion of its neighboring country, Ukraine.
In other parts of the world, specifically in the United States, they are also persuading Iran to retaliate in a measured way or not at all. A senior US official who focuses on the Middle East said Washington was doing everything it could on Iran.
“To prevent all parties from going to a place they cannot leave,” the official said.
He said other countries in the region and Europe must do more. Iran has told foreign officials it will respond “vigorously” to Haniyeh’s killing. Last weekend, Minister of Foreign Affairs Anthony Blinken held a video conference with officials from G7 member countries. It is hoped that the discussion will generate international diplomatic pressure on Iran.
Blinken, according to sources familiar with the conversation, also asked allied countries to minimize the impact of Iran’s attack. The Middle East is on the brink of war after Haniyeh was killed in Tehran at the end of July. Iran has repeatedly vowed to punish Israel, which it considers to be behind the murder. Observers believe Haniyeh’s death will create a new conflict between Iran and its proxies and Israel.