‘Extremely dangerous step’: Russia warns US against taking military action in Israel-Iran war

Israel-Iran conflict: The Russian foreign ministry warned on Thursday that it will be ‘dangerous’ if the United States takes a military action against Iran amid speculations of Washington mulling to enter the conflict alongside Israel.

“We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

The Russian foreign ministry further urged Israel to immediately halt air attacks on the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran where Russian specialists work.

Bushehr, Iran's only operating nuclear power plant, uses Russian fuel that Russia then takes back when it is spent in order to reduce nuclear proliferation risk.

Russia calls for cessation of Iran-Israel conflict

Along with the UAE on Wednesday, Russia had called for an an immediate cessation of the Israel and Iran conflict as well as a diplomatic and political efforts to resolve Tehran's nuclear issue.

“The imperative of an early cessation of hostilities and intensification of political and diplomatic efforts in the interests of resolving controversial issues related to the Iranian nuclear programme was emphasised,” the Kremlin said in a statement after President Vladimir Putin had a telephonic conversation with his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Trump ‘may or may not’ join Israel in conflict against Iran

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to answer questions asked by reporters about whether Americal was planning to join Israel and strike Iran or its nuclear facilities. He further claimed that the Iranians had reached out but he feels "it's very late to be talking."

“There's a big difference between now and a week ago,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “Nobody knows what I'm going to do.”

Trump also claimed that Iran had proposed to come for talks at the White House. He did not provide details. He described Iran as totally defenseless, with no air defense whatsoever, as Israel's strikes entered a sixth day.

A source quoted by Reuters who was familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump in a social media post called for ‘unconditional surrender’ of Iran and claimed that the US knew where exactly Tehran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is hiding but does not want him killed “for now”.