 "Putin speaks to Netanyahu and Pezeshkian, offers mediation as Iranian protests raise regional tensions")
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said, offering to mediate as protests in Iran raise fears of a wider military confrontation.
Independent monitors report that Iranian security forces have killed thousands in a forceful crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests. The unrest has prompted threats of military action from the United States, a key ally of Israel.
Iran has repeatedly accused the US and Israel of inciting the protests and attempting to destabilize the Islamic Republic.
The latest tensions follow a brief conflict in June, during which Israel launched unprecedented attacks on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, with the US joining in strikes on three major nuclear sites.
“The situation in the region is highly tense, and the president continues his efforts to facilitate de-escalation,” AFP quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
In his call with Pezeshkian, Putin pledged to further strengthen their countries’ “strategic partnership”, the Kremlin said.
Pezeshkian meanwhile thanked Putin for Russia’s support for Iran at the United Nations, the Iranian presidency said.
Russia is a strategic partner of Iran and wary of any conflict that could threaten the country’s pro-Moscow leadership, further diminishing its influence in the region.
But the call marks the first time Putin has commented on the situation in Iran and the first public outreach to its key Middle Eastern ally since the protests erupted.
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View AllRussia has also strived for good relations with Israel, though those ties became strained amid Russian criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
In a call with Israel’s Netanyahu on Friday, the Kremlin said Russia had expressed its “readiness to continue its mediation efforts.”
It did not clarify what current efforts were being undertaken.
Moscow had previously offered mediation during the June war.
Netanyahu said Sunday that he hoped Iran would soon be freed from what he described as the “yoke of tyranny”, amid the protests.
However, the rallies appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and a week-long internet blackout.
A senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk US President Donald Trump out of an attack on Iran amid the crackdown on the protestors, fearing “grave blowbacks in the region”.
With inputs from agencies
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