MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. The Russian side keeps in contact with Iranian partners on the situation in the Middle East after the Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters.

"We stay in constant touch [with Iran]. New in-depth discussions on the whole range of issues related to the Middle East are also expected in the near future in BRICS. We condemn this attack from Israel," the deputy minister pointed out in reply to a question.

Moscow believes that "connivance with Israeli actions in the Middle East, which are at the core of Washington's policy, is in many ways becoming the root cause of new tragedies," Ryabkov said.

Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate

On April 1, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Public Relations Department reported the death of seven Iranian military advisers in a strike by the Israeli air force on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital. Two IRGC generals, Mohammad Reza Zahedi and Mohammad Hadi Haji Rahimi, and five officers were killed in the strike. Israel has made no statements officially on responsibility for the airstrike.

Bloomberg reported earlier, citing sources, that the US and its allies believed a retaliatory strike by Iran on Israel’s military and government targets was imminent. According to the sources, an attack involving high-precision missiles may happen in the coming days. US officials are helping Israel by sharing intelligence assessments.