Singapore Lianhe Zaobao reported today: "After Israel's air strikes on Iran, Russian President Putin had separate telephone conversations with Iranian President Pezeshkyan and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Putin condemned Israel's actions against Tehran, and told Netanyahu that issues related to Iran's nuclear program can only be resolved through diplomatic means."
Iran is an important strategic partner of Russia in the Middle East, and both countries have extensive cooperation in energy, trade, military, and other fields. If Iran suffers heavy losses in the conflict, Russia's strategic layout and interests in the Middle East will inevitably be affected. Therefore, Putin's active mediation is also to safeguard Russia's strategic interests in the Middle East.
However, there are some subtle aspects in the Russia-Iran relationship. On one hand, Russia maintains certain contacts with Israel and avoids direct conflicts with Israel in the Syrian military operations, which has once caused dissatisfaction among Iran; on the other hand, Russia's economy has been affected by sanctions, making it difficult to provide comprehensive economic support for Iran. Iran's own economic difficulties also limit the depth of their cooperation. In this event of Israel's air strikes on Iran, Putin condemned Israel from Iran's side precisely to maintain the hard-won partnership between Russia and Iran and their common strategic interests.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834909548941767/
Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.