The Russian president says Iran’s nuclear programme continues and society remains united behind political leadership.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to comment on speculation that Israel or the United States may try to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and continued to push for a political solution to the Iran-Israel conflict during a meeting with international journalists.
“If I may, I hope that this will be the most correct answer to your question. I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to,” he said in response to questions about Khamenei on Thursday from the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that the conflict could lead to regime change in Iran, where Israeli attacks have targeted senior military leaders and top nuclear scientists.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 585 people, among them 239 civilians, since last Friday, according to a US-based Iranian human rights group.
US President Donald Trump earlier said that Washington knew the location of Khamenei. He said the US would not act for now, although he has not ruled out the possibility that the US may join Israel’s attack on Iran.
Despite the threats from Netanyahu, Putin said that Iranian society remains united behind its government.
“We see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there … that there is a consolidation of society around the country’s political leadership,” he said.
The Russian leader has presented himself in recent days as a possible mediator between the two sides, although his overtures have been rebuffed by world leaders like Trump due to Moscow’s close ties with Tehran.
Russia has yet to supply Iran with weapons, despite signing a strategic partnership in January, he said, although it continues to help with Iran’s nuclear programme. Tehran says this programme is designed for civilian use and has consistently denied seeking a bomb, but Israel claims Iran intends to build a nuclear weapon.
Putin said Tehran’s nuclear programme continues underground despite the recent Israeli air strikes.
“These underground factories, they exist, nothing has happened to them,” Putin said.
Putin also said that more than 200 Russians continue to work at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran. The group is safe, he said, after Moscow “agreed with the leadership of Israel that their security would be ensured”.
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