‘Unimaginable, unacceptable’: Russia rejects Israel's call for regime change in Iran, backs Khamenei

Russia has rejected calls for any potential push for regime change in Iran, warning that the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could trigger a surge in extremism within the country.

“(Regime change in Iran) is unimaginable. It should be unacceptable, even talking about that should be unacceptable for everyone,” Politico quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying in an interview with Sky News published Friday.

“Those who are speaking about (killing Khamenei), they should keep it in mind. They will open the Pandora’s box,” he added.

Peskov warned that the direct involvement of other parties in the conflict could be “even more dangerous,” as the US weighs offering military support to Israel.

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“It will lead only to another circle of confrontation and escalation of tension in the region,” he added.

Russia, meanwhile, has been waging a full-scale war against neighboring Ukraine for over three years, an invasion that has shaken Europe’s long-standing security framework.

The Kremlin’s remarks come as former US President Donald Trump’s team announced Thursday that he will decide within two weeks whether the US will join Israel’s military campaign against Iran.

Earlier the same day, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that eliminating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is not Israel’s objective, though he claimed Khamenei’s removal would ultimately serve the interests of the Iranian people.

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Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also declared on Thursday that Khamenei “will be held accountable” following a missile strike that damaged an Israeli hospital.

Meanwhile, on Friday morning, an Iranian missile struck the southern Israeli city of Be’er-Sheva, damaging buildings and injuring seven people after what local authorities described as a “direct hit.”

In response, the Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes on three Iranian missile platforms poised for launch and reported killing an Iranian commander involved in the operation.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), more than 60 fighter jets struck dozens of military targets in Iran overnight, including missile production facilities in the Tehran area.

With inputs from agencies