(Al Jazeera Media Network) After Israel launched what it described as “preventive” attacks on Iranian military and nuclear targets last week, Russia’s position appeared clear.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow condemned what it called “unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state”, referring to Iran.
The Kremlin, whose partnership with Iran dates back many years, has urged a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
Since the hostilities began on Friday, more than 220 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Iran while 24 people have been killed in Iranian counterstrikes.
Both Iran and Russia shared an ally in former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and intervened on his behalf in the Syrian war until his eventual defeat late last year. Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed kamikaze drones to be used on Ukrainian targets, and last year, there were reports that Russia received hundreds of Fath-360 ballistic missiles from Iran, which are known to be accurate at short range.
“Of course, Russia should be friends with Iran because, in politics and in life, everything is very simple,” hawkish Russian TV personality Sergey Mardan commented after the latest Middle East crisis escalated. “If you have an enemy and your enemy has partners and allies, his partners and allies are automatically your enemies.
“There are no illusions about this, and there can’t be any. Since Israel is a key ally of the United States; … of course, we are interested in the weakening of Israel and helping its adversaries.”
While Russia might be sympathetic to Iran, the extent of their relationship should not be overstated, said independent Middle East specialist Ruslan Suleymanov, who is based in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Russia now manufactures its own Shahed drones under licence, so its own combat capabilities are unlikely to be affected by the Iran-Israel conflict, he said.
“The Iranians, in turn, expected more from Russia. They expected a much larger amount of aircraft, military, space technologies, not to mention nuclear,” Suleymanov told Al Jazeera.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/17/how-will-russia-respond-to-the-israel-iran-conflict
