MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Russia is in contact with all parties to the conflict around Iran and is urging them to de-escalate, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
"We continue to view de-escalation as imperative, along with the swift cessation of destructive hostilities - which most severely affect the civilian populations of both Iran and the Persian Gulf states - and a return to seeking political solutions to the conflict," she noted. "While maintaining dialogue with all parties involved, we continue to urge them to do so," she said.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.