Putin says Iran uniting as Russia warns US strike would ‘radically destabilise’ region
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The news: Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Iranian society was consolidating around the Islamic Republic's leadership, when asked by Reuters if he agreed with Israeli statements about possible regime change in Tehran.
The context: He spoke as US President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about possible US involvement in Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear and missile sites, and as residents fled Iran’s capital on the sixth day of air strikes.
What they said: Putin said all sides should look to end hostilities in ways that ensured both Iran's right to peaceful nuclear power and Israel's right to unconditional security.
“We see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there...that there is a consolidation of society around the country's political leadership,” Putin told Reuters editors in St Petersburg.
He added Iran’s underground uranium enrichment facilities “exist, nothing has happened to them.”
“It seems to me that it would be right for everyone to look for ways to end hostilities and find ways for all parties to this conflict to come to an agreement with each other,” Putin said. “In my opinion, in general, such a solution can be found.”
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow had told the US not to strike Iran because it would “radically destabilise” the Middle East.
The source: Reuters
