Russia Fears Israel-Iran Escalation May Trigger Wider War

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Foreign Ministry urges Iran and Israel to refrain from actions that could escalate tensions after their tit-for-tat attacks nearly plunged the region into a wider war in April, Alexander Kinschak, head of the ministry's Middle East and North Africa Department, told Sputnik.

"The Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus on April 1 could indeed trigger a wider regional war," Kinschak said in an interview.

Iran gave a "moderate" response, targeting select military infrastructure of Israel in a drone-and-missile attack on April 13, Kinschak said. The attack demonstrated Iran's military capabilities without inflicting much damage on its regional rival.

"We believe that this vicious circle, the eye-for-an-eye approach should be abandoned. We hope that the military confrontation will end and the countries involved will not allow the situation erode into a full-fledged conflict," the diplomat added.

Tensions between Israel and the Islamic world have been on the rise after Israel invaded the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas' October 7 attack on the Jewish state.

Kinschak said that the conflict in Gaza had sidelined other events in the region, including efforts by Russia and Iran to bring about rapprochement between Syria and Turkiye.

"Unfortunately, the events in the Gaza Strip and beyond continue to negatively affect all processes in the region ... Under these circumstances, I'd refrain from speculating about the possibility of further four-way meetings," the diplomat said.

The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkiye held their first four-way meeting in May 2023, agreeing to draw up a road map for Syrian-Turkish normalization. Kinschak said the stakeholders would continue their efforts to normalize relations between the two neighbors.