Russian strongman Vladimir Putin praised Iran’s unprecedented, 300+ missile and drone assault against Israel on Tuesday in conversation with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, claiming it was the “best way” for Tehran to address its tensions with Israel.
The Iranian government propaganda outlet PressTV claimed that Putin effusively supported the missile attack – which failed almost entirely, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blocked 99 percent of the missiles and drones shot its way – while speaking to Raisi on the phone. Russian media notably omitted any such belligerent comments, instead emphasizing that Putin urged “restraint” on behalf of both parties.
Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel – conducted by its military, not one of its many proxy terrorist organizations – on Saturday that Iranian officials claimed was targeting IDF infrastructure. Iranian leaders described the attack, which they branded “Operation True Promise,” as necessary retaliation against an airstrike on an Iranian consulate facility in Damascus, Syria, that killed seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. Israel is widely believed to have conducted the strike but has not taken official responsibility for the act at press time.
Following the assault, the IDF confirmed that it had fully intercepted all 170 drones Iran launched at Israel and over 30 cruise missiles. The vast majority of the ballistic missiles shot at Israel also never hit targets, and the few that did caused only minimal damage. Authorities documented one casualty: a young Arab Bedouin girl hospitalized after being hit by shrapnel.
Russia is one of Iran’s closest diplomatic allies, the product of years of cooperation supporting the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Assad in Syria and their joint membership in the BRICS coalition, established by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Iran joined BRICS in January.
File/Russian President Vladimir Putin exits his plane on arrival at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. Putin arrived in Iran for trilateral talks with Tehran and Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
According to PressTV, Putin praised the failed attack on Israel as “tactful and wise,” as well as justified it as necessary following the Damascus bombing.
“What the Islamic Republic of Iran did in response to what happened criminally and in the light of the inaction of the [UN] Security Council, was the best way to punish the aggressor and represented the tactfulness and rationality of Iran’s politicians,” PressTV claimed that Putin said.
The outlet further claimed that Putin called Iran, a rogue regime and the world’s premier state sponsor of terrorism, “one of the main pillars of stability and security in the region.”
The Iranian propaganda agency reported that Raisi used the phone call with Putin to threaten further terrorist actions against Israel.
“We firmly declare that we will respond to any action against Iran’s interests with greater force and broader and more painful than the previous [response],” Raisi reportedly said, apparently disregarding global calls for “restraint.”
One of those institutions is the United Nations Security Council, which held an emergency meeting on Sunday calling for restraint that resulted in no concrete action. Raisi reportedly complained to Putin that, thanks to American influence in support of Israel, the Security Council was mired in “inaction and inefficiency.”
“To those countries that have adopted double standards in the face of the crimes of the Zionist regime and express concerns about escalating tensions in the region,” Raisi was quoted as saying, “we advise them to rather stop supporting the Zionists genocide and crimes against the oppressed Palestinian people to preserve peace and stability in the region.”
The “genocide” Raisi referred to is likely Israel’s ongoing self-defense operations in Gaza, a disputed territory controlled by Iranian proxy terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas executed a massive murder and rape spree against Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 1,200 people, including children as young as infants, and the abduction of 250 people, of which 133 are believed to remain in captivity. The IDF operation in Gaza intends to neutralize Hamas, ensuring the October 7 atrocities do not repeat. Hamas supporters, including Iranian leaders, refer to attempts to prevent Hamas from committing more terrorist acts a “genocide.”
The Russian news agency Tass notably did not share any of the positive comments Putin allegedly made to Raisi in its English-language coverage of the phone call. Tass cited the official Russian presidential press service, which stated only that Putin “said all parties would hopefully show a reasonable degree of restraint to avoid a new bout of tensions that may cause disastrous consequences for the entire region.”
Tass also reported that Putin and Raisi spent some of their conversation discussing infrastructure.
File/(L-R) Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo before a trilateral meeting on Syria in Tehran on July 19, 2022. (SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty)
“During exchange of views on relevant issues of the Russian-Iranian relations mutual sentiment was expressed for further gradual expansion of bilateral cooperation in various areas, including implementation of mutually beneficial infrastructure projects,” according to the Kremlin.
Raisi appeared to entirely ignore calls for restraint, from Putin and others, in remarks on Wednesday to mark Iran’s National Army Day.
“Operation True Promise was a limited and not a comprehensive measure. If we had carried out a stronger operation, nothing would then have been left out of Israel,” Raisi claimed, despite the near-complete failure of “Operation True Promise,” in remarks to military officers in Tehran.
“The [Iranian] Army stands by the nation and acts to defend the homeland, territorial integrity and the values of the Islamic Revolution,” he continued. “Our army has distinguished itself from other armies in the world in terms of belief and faith in [Allah] and reliance on divine power.”
