By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia has not received any requests for assistance from Iran, including military support.
“In this case, there were no appeals from the Iranian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a press briefing, when asked whether Russia plans to provide Iran with assistance, such as arms supplies.
Peskov’s remarks come as Israel and the US have continued a large-scale offensive against Iran since Saturday, killing at least 926 people, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior military officials.
Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel and Gulf countries hosting US military assets.
Russia has called the strikes on Iran an “act of armed aggression” and an attempt to “overthrow the legitimate government in Iran,” according to a Foreign Ministry statement Thursday.
It said Iran has been “deliberately provoked” into retaliatory strikes against targets in several Arab countries, which the Russian side “deeply regrets.”
Reaffirming Moscow’s call on all parties to immediately cease hostilities, the statement said Russia considers “attacks on civilians and on any civilian objects,” in both Iran and Gulf countries, to be “completely unacceptable.”
“At the same time, it is clear that the only way to prevent the region from sliding further into destabilization is to end the US and Israeli aggression, which has triggered a chain reaction of suffering for Arabs,” it added.