JERUSALEM, June 25. /TASS/. Russia strongly rejects all attempts of putting Iran on par with the Islamic State (a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia) and calls on the United States and Israel to show restraint and readiness for reciprocal steps, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said on Tuesday.
Patrushev participated on Tuesday in trilateral talks in Israel’s Jerusalem on the Syrian conflict settlement jointly with US National Security Advisor John Bolton and head of the Israeli National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat.
"In the context of the statements made by our partners with regard to a major regional power, namely Iran, I would like to say the following: Iran has always been and remains our ally and partner, with which we are consistently developing relations both on bilateral basis and within multilateral formats," Patrushev said after the trilateral meeting, which lasted for more than two and a half hours.
"This is why we believe that it is inadmissible to describe Iran as the major threat to the regional security and, moreover, to put it on par with the Islamic State or any other terrorist organization," Patrushev stated.
The head of the Russian Security Council stressed that Iran is a significant contributor to the fight against terrorism and the settlement of the conflict in Syria, including within the frames of the Astana format.
"We have called on our partners to show restraint and readiness for reciprocal steps, which must serve as the basis for the consistent advancement towards the easing of tensions in the Israeli-Iranian relations," Patrushev added.