Russia’s Deputy FM Says Such an Attack
Would Be a ‘Catastrophic Development’
Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com

(October 17 2024) — On Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov strongly warned Israel against attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“We have repeatedly warned and continue to warn and caution [Israel] against even hypothetically considering the possibility of an attack on [Iran’s] nuclear facilities and nuclear infrastructure,” Ryabkov said, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

“This would be a catastrophic development and a complete rejection of the existing postulates in the sphere of nuclear security,” the Russian diplomat added.

The warning from Russia comes amid anticipation of an Israeli attack on Iran in response to the nearly 200 Iranian ballistic missiles that were fired at Israeli territory on October 1. The Iranian attack was a response to a string of Israeli assassinations in the region, including the killing of Hamas’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.

There have been calls in Israel and the US for Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear program even though there’s no evidence Tehran is seeking a nuclear weapon, which was recently acknowledged by the CIA.

According to media reports, Israel has told the US that it would strike military targets, not oil or nuclear infrastructure. However, in response to one of those reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, “We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests.”

ABC News and CNN both reported on Wednesday that Netanyahu has approved targets to hit inside Israel, but their sources did not share any other details. Israel is expected to launch the attack before the US presidential election on November 5, but the exact timeline is unclear.