Expansion of Middle East conflict to be catastrophic for region — Kremlin

Russian Politics & Diplomacy October 10, 13:26

Dmitry Peskov did not speculate on what actions Russia, whose Khmeimim airbase is located in the Middle East, might take in the event of further escalation

MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. The consequences of the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East will be disastrous for the region, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing.

"I don’t even want to talk about further geographic expansion [of the conflict]," the Kremlin spokesman said. "The consequences of this would be catastrophic for the region," he added.

"To our regret, the geography of fighting is already expanding. We can see that now the Lebanese front has been opened," he said. "All this, of course, leads to the destruction of civilian infrastructure. Tens and hundreds of thousands of people are losing their homes, their livelihoods, their jobs," Peskov added.

Peskov did not speculate on what actions Russia, whose Khmeimim airbase is located in the Middle East, might take in the event of further escalation. "It is unlikely that any hypothetical reasoning is appropriate in this case," the spokesman said.

On the evening of October 1, Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israel as a response for the killings of key leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tehran claims that 90% of the missiles hit their intended targets, while Israel says that Iran only launched 180 missiles and most of them were intercepted. The Israeli General Staff vowed to "choose the right moment" to surprise Iran with a counter-attack, while Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that the attacks on Israel would only be expanded.

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