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Russian, US defense chiefs discuss Middle East crisis by phone

The situation in the Middle East aggravated in the wake of an overnight US missile strike near Baghdad’s airport on Jan 3, which killed the commander of an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Qasem Soleimani

MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu focused on the situation in the Middle East in a phone call with US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper have held talks by phone," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

According to the defense ministry, they "focused on the situation in the Middle East."

The situation in the Middle East aggravated sharply in the wake of an overnight US missile strike near Baghdad’s airport on January 3, which killed the commander of the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qasem Soleimani. In retaliation Tehran on January 8 carried out a night-time missile strike against two facilities in Iraq, being used by the US military - Ayn al-Assad airbase and Erbil Airport.

US President Donald Trump declared that Washington would instantly tighten economic sanctions against Tehran. At the same time he remarked that the US was prepared for peace with Iran. Iran’s permanent representative to the UN, Majid Takht Ravanchi, told TASS Tehran believed that its retaliation was proportionate and had no intention of taking further military action.