Report: Putin Asks Iran To Avoid Civilian Casualties in Reprisal Attack on Israel

Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to avoid civilian casualties in Iran’s expected reprisal attack on Israel for the killing of Hamas’s political chief in Tehran, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed Iranian sources.

The sources said the message was delivered by Sergey Shoigu, head of the Russian Security Council and former defense minister. Shoigu was in Tehran on Monday and met with President President Masoud Pezeshkian.

The New York Times reported that Iran had requested air defenses from Russia in the meeting as it prepares for a potential war with Israel and the US and that Moscow had already begun delivering radars and air defense equipment.

Russia and Iran have increased military ties in recent years as a result of both countries facing heavy US sanctions, but so far, neither country has confirmed that Russia is delivering new equipment.

Brig. Gen. Alireza Elhami, the deputy commander of Iran’s air defense forces, said that the Iranian military was in the process of upgrading its air defense systems but added that Tehran is not relying on any foreign country.

“We are 100% self-sufficient and we are not dependent on foreign equipment, and the security of our air borders is not dependent on foreign countries,” Elhami said, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.

Shoigu said that during his visit to Tehran, he discussed Israeli escalations in Lebanon and the Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Theran, which he called a “tragic event.”

Shoigu said he discussed with Iranian officials a “whole range of issues, starting with Syria. Certainly, the disturbing developments on Lebanon’s border with Israel were on the agenda. Of course, the recent tragic events that took place in Tehran were touched upon. It was impossible to bypass this topic.”