Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, January 16, held calls with the leaders of Israel and Iran, the Kremlin said, offering mediation amid protests in Iran that have raised fears of a military confrontation in the region.
Independent monitors say Iranian security forces have killed thousands in a forceful response to nationwide anti-government protests – a crackdown that prompted threats of military action by the United States, Israel’s key ally.
Iran has repeatedly accused the US and Israel of inciting the unrest and trying to undermine the Islamic Republic’s national unity. Iran and Israel fought a brief war in June that saw unprecedented Israeli attacks on Iranian military and nuclear facilities. The US had briefly joined those strikes, hitting three major Iranian nuclear sites.
On Friday, Russia announced Putin was in contact with both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a bid to cool tensions between the two rivals. “The situation in the region is highly tense, and the president continues his efforts to facilitate de-escalation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
I’m sure that’ll work out just great.
