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Russia on Wednesday denounced the killing of Iranian security chief Ali Larijani, following Iran’s vow to retaliate after his death in an Israeli airstrike.
Larijani had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin in January, at a time of rising tensions as US naval forces were moving toward Iran ahead of the US-Israel air campaign launched in late February.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow strongly condemned actions targeting the health or lives of leaders of sovereign nations, stressing that such acts were unacceptable.
“We firmly condemn actions aimed at harming the health and, even more, the killing of the leadership of sovereign and independent Iran. We condemn such actions.”
Russia, a close ally of Iran, has consistently criticised US and Israeli strikes, which Tehran has responded to with missile and drone attacks on US allies in the Gulf.
Last year, Moscow and Tehran signed a broad cooperation agreement, although it stopped short of including a mutual defence clause. The publicly released version indicated that both countries would cooperate against shared security threats and avoid supporting any aggressor in the event of an attack on either side.
Since the conflict began, Russia has provided humanitarian assistance to Iran but has not publicly detailed any additional support.
The Kremlin also recently dismissed a Washington Post report alleging that Russia shared sensitive intelligence with Iran, including the positions of US military assets in the region.
Iran has been a key ally of Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, supplying drones that Moscow has used in its military operations.
