LONDON, March 26. /TASS/. When launching the military operation against Iran, the United States underestimated Tehran’s ability to resist and economic consequences of its actions, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom said.
"As far as I understand, they have two underestimations on it. First of all, [they thought that] Iran would give up, and regime would be changed with the first strikes by the United States. And second underestimation or complete fault was that it would not have economic consequences. Both were wrong. And on that side they have mislead the allies, people from all countries of the Persian Gulf," he said in an interview with Channel 4.
According to Kelin, the United States "needs this peace deal even much more than Iran, because Iran is now fighting for its cause, it is fighting for the country." "What the US is doing over there, it's a big question, since no clear goals have been designed, no clear goals have been established, and no exit strategy has been established. And actually, people in the world, even experts, they do not fully understand why it has happened in the middle of talks which could bring results," he stated.
The Russian diplomat noted that the military operation against Iran is not supported by people either in the United States or in the United Kingdom. "The public in the United States, even in the UK, is not very supportive, I will say, not at all supportive for these actions," he emphasized.
"So now it is up to the US administration to decide and to understand how they are getting out of all this mess," he added.
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.