Russia says it will 'defend, support’ Iran’s attack on Israel as ‘legitimate defense’ at UN Security Council

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) - The Russian foreign minister on Monday said his country will strongly “defend and support” Iran’s military action against Israel as “legitimate defense” at the UN Security Council meeting.

Sergey Lavrov made the remarks in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Monday, according to a statement issued by Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

Lavrov expressed hope for the reduction of tensions in the region after Iran’s retaliatory attack against Israel that came two weeks after an attack on the Iranian Consulate in Syria.

The attack on the Iranian Consulate building in Damascus, which resulted in the killing of seven Iranian military officials, including a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander for Syria and Lebanon, was blamed on Israel.

Russia was one of the countries that condemned the attack, which inflamed tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv, two regional arch-foes, with Iran vowing “definitive revenge.”

Many countries had urged Iran to exercise restraint and abandon the planned retaliatory military action, but Iranian officials invoked the country's “right to self-defense” under the UN Charter for the operation and carried out an attack on Israel on Saturday.

The US, UK, France and Germany condemned the strikes in separate statements on Sunday, following which Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned their ambassadors in Tehran to protest.

Lavrov criticized countries who refused to condemn the attack on the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, adding that Russia “had no doubt” about Iran responding to it.

Russia’s foreign minister added that his country believes that the process of carrying out this military action by Iran was “based on a responsible response with self-restraint,” the statement noted.

For his part, Amir-Abdollahian “explained the objectives and manner of the military action” taken by the Iranian military on “specific targets in the occupied territories of Palestine”, referring to Israel, the Iranian Foreign Ministry statement said.

He emphasized that the “limited action” was aimed at “deterring, punishing and warning” Israel, adding that if Tel Aviv takes any further action against Iran, it will “definitely face a very strong response,” it added.

He considered the role of Russia in ending the “crimes” of Israel in Gaza and preventing the escalation of tensions in the region as “important.”