Asked whether Moscow plans to aid Iran in its conflict with Israel, Peskov declined to give a direct answer. Instead, he said, “It all depends on what our Iranian friends will be discussing and requesting.”
He added that contacts between Russia’s and Iran’s foreign ministries were expected later that day, saying, “There will be an exchange of views, and the Iranian side will be able to inform us of their perspective on the situation.”
On June 13, Israel launched its largest military operation against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in decades, dubbed A Nation Like a Lion. Since then, both countries have exchanged hundreds of missiles and drones in escalating tit-for-tat strikes.
On June 15, U.S. President Donald Trump called on Iran and Israel to sign a peace deal, adding he was “open” to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin serving as a mediator in the conflict.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Putin’s offer to mediate between Iran and Israel is likely aimed at distracting Washington from Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Kremlin is trying to present Russia as a supposedly “useful and necessary” partner to the United States in the context of the Middle East crisis, ISW noted.
On June 22, the U.S. launched airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, including the Fordow plant and uranium enrichment sites in Natanz and Isfahan. President Trump said the targets had been “eliminated.”
The following day, June 23, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow for talks with Putin. Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had sent a letter to Putin requesting Russian assistance in response to the U.S. strikes.