MOSCOW, July 11. /TASS/. The risk is rising that the situation surrounding Iran will lead to a direct conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Thursday.

"The situation is very alarming. We can see that that in fact, the risk of a direct conflict has risen to such an extent that it is getting harder to predict future developments," he pointed out.

"The reason is clear: Washington purposefully seeks to raise tensions [around Iran]," the senior Russian diplomat added.