By Andrew Osborn and Alexander Marrow
(Reuters) -Russia said on Friday Israeli strikes on Iran were unprovoked and in breach of the United Nations charter, and accused Israel of wrecking diplomatic efforts to reach a deal to allay Western concerns about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Israel launched strikes against Iran on Friday, saying it had targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders during the start of an operation to prevent Tehran from building a nuclear weapon.
Initial reports suggested the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which Russia built, had not been hit.
“Russia is concerned and condemns the sharp escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media.
President Vladimir Putin was receiving real-time reports on the situation from Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service and the foreign and defence ministries, Peskov said.
Moscow has repeatedly offered to help the United States and Iran reach a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme. It said on Wednesday that it was ready to remove highly enriched uranium from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel as a potential way to help narrow U.S.-Iranian differences.
Russia and Iran have grown closer in recent years and Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian deepened military ties between their countries in January when they signed a 20-year strategic partnership pact.
But Moscow, which has supplied Iran with weapons and bought Iranian arms, is wary of being sucked into a conflict in the Middle East and the pact did not include a mutual defence clause.
ANTI-IRANIAN ‘HYSTERIA’
In a detailed statement drawn up at Putin’s behest on Friday, the Foreign Ministry condemned Israel and blamed the West for whipping up what it called anti-Iranian “hysteria”.
“We strongly condemn the use of force by the state of Israel in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and international law,” the ministry said.
“Unprovoked military strikes against a sovereign U.N. member state, its citizens, peaceful cities, and nuclear energy infrastructure are categorically unacceptable.
“The international community cannot afford to be indifferent to such atrocities, which destroy peace and damage regional and international security,” it said.
The statement said Moscow believed there was no military solution when it came to allaying Western doubts and fears around Iran’s nuclear programme and that diplomacy was the only answer.
“We call on the sides to exercise restraint in order to prevent a further escalation of tensions and the descent of the region into full-scale war,” the ministry said.
“In this regard we recall the readiness of the United States to hold another round of talks (on Sunday) with Iran on the Iranian nuclear programme in Oman.”
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn/Lucy PapachristouEditing by Mark Trevelyan and Gareth Jones)
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