TEHRAN, October 19. /TASS/. Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu agreed in a telephone call to cooperate in providing assistance to those affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports.

According to the agency, the parties also discussed the need to establish a ceasefire in the conflict zone.

An initiative that Moscow presented earlier at the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire but certain Western countries impeded its adoption, the Russian defense chief stressed.

On October 18, the United States vetoed Brazil’s draft resolution on the Middle East. Russia abstained from voting in light of the UN Security Council’s rejection of its suggested amendments to the document. The UK also abstained, while the remaining 12 members of the UN Security Council voted in favor of the resolution.