Russia has expressed “utmost concern over the dangerous escalation” of the situation in the Middle East following Israeli strikes on military facilities and senior Iranian officials on the night of 13 June.
“We strongly condemn the forceful action of the State of Israel in violation of the United Nations Charter and norms of international law on the night of 13 June. Unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign UN member state, its citizens, sleeping peaceful cities, nuclear energy infrastructure facilities are categorically unacceptable… The fact that the Israeli attacks were carried out in the midst of a session of the IAEA Board of Heads and on the eve of the next round of indirect contacts between representatives of Iran and the United States adds particular cynicism to what is happening,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said he knew about the Israeli strikes on Iran in advance, but the United States was not involved. “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb and we hope to return to the negotiating table. We’ll see. There are a few people in the leadership who won’t be back,” the US leader said on Fox News television, indirectly referring to casualties among leaders of Iran’s military and participants in Tehran’s nuclear programme.
There were subsequent reports from Tehran that Iran would not participate in nuclear talks with the US following the Israeli attack.
On Sunday, June 15, another round of talks between the US and Iran on Iran’s nuclear programme was due to take place in Oman. The main issue at them remained the issue of uranium enrichment. The US insisted that Iran could develop its nuclear power only with imported enriched uranium. Iran claimed that enriching uranium on its own territory was its sovereign right.
At 3 a.m. on 13 June, Israel launched an attack on Iran. Israeli aircraft struck uranium enrichment facilities in Natang and Fordow, missile bases in Kermanshah and Khorremabad, and Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz and other major Iranian cities were also under attack.
Iranian media reported that the Israeli strikes killed, among others, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hosein Salami, the Chief of General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, and other high-ranking officials.