Putin Urges Restraint As Anxiety Grips Iranians

Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged for calm amid probable Israeli retaliatory attacks on Iran as Israel is said to be getting set to hit Iran hard following Tehran’s unprecedented drone and missile attacks into Israeli territory at the weekend.

Putin made the remarks in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Tuesday.

According to reports from the Kremlin, the two leaders discussed “retaliatory measures taken by Iran” after an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on April 1.

Putin urged all sides to refrain from action that would trigger a new confrontation that would have catastrophic consequences for the Middle East, the Kremlin said.

Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel late on Saturday in response to the Israeli strike in Damascus, which killed seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.

However, nearly all the drones and missiles were shot down by the Israeli air defence system with assistance from the United States.

Putin, in his first publicly aired comments on Iran’s attack, blamed the current instability in the Middle East on the lingering Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

“Vladimir Putin expressed hope that all sides would show reasonable restraint and prevent a new round of confrontation fraught with catastrophic consequences for the entire region,” the Kremlin said.

“Ebrahim Raisi noted that Iran’s actions were forced and limited in nature,” the Kremlin said. “At the same time, he stressed Tehran’s disinterest in further escalation of tensions.”

Meanwhile Iranians appear to be gripped by anxiety over a probable Israeli attack amid economic difficulties even as the leaders in Tehran expressed confidence that they will take the war to Israel.

Reports from Tehran, the Iranian capital, said war will have a severe impact on Iran’s already flailing economy. A significant proportion of Iranians reportedly opposed what they see as the reckless adventurism of the country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which fired more than 300 drones and missiles on Saturday night.