UPDATE - Russia concerned about ‘dangerous escalation’ in Mideast amid Iranian attack on Israel

ADDS FURTHER COMMENTS BY RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY & REMARKS BY FORMER RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said on Sunday that it is “extremely concerned” about another “dangerous escalation” in the Middle East, as Iran launched an overnight attack on Israeli territory.

“We express our utmost concern about another dangerous escalation in the region. We have repeatedly warned that the unresolved nature of numerous crises in the Middle East, primarily in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone, which are often fueled by irresponsible provocative actions, will lead to increased tension,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Expressing that the overnight attack, according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement, was carried out in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter in response to an airstrike on Tehran's embassy in Syria earlier this month, the statement said the UN Security Council was unable to adequately respond to the attack "due to the position of its Western members."

The statement called on all parties involved to exercise restraint, expressing Moscow's hope that regional states will resolve existing problems in the region through political and diplomatic means.

It further said Russia believes it is important that “constructive international players” contribute to these efforts.

Iran began an airborne attack Saturday against Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic facility in the Syrian capital of Damascus. The strike killed at least seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two top generals.

Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out the attack and vowed to respond. Tel Aviv has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack but it has for months carried out several strikes against Iranian targets across Syria.

Iran and Hezbollah, its main ally in Lebanon, have said the attack will not go unpunished.

- 'Gaza threatens Biden's election prospects'

In a separate statement on Telegram, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev argued the difference between the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and what is happening in the Middle East, saying the US does not want a big war in the latter case.

Expressing the US tries to maintain balance and show restraint in the case of the Middle East, Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy head of the Russian Security Council, said that the conflict in Gaza threatens US President Joe Biden's election prospects and that the war between Israel and Iran adds "further uncertainty."