MOSCOW, February 16 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia’s interests will sustain serious damages, if the current rule in Iran is toppled, Iranian Ambassador in Russia Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi told a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.

“If Iran is ‘brought to its knees’, we do not doubt that a broad anti-Russian front will be formed,” the diplomat said. “It is an open secret that we protect Russia from the south,” he elaborated.