Russia, UAE urge immediate halt to escalating Israel-Iran conflict

Russia and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday called for an immediate cessation of the Israel and Iran conflict and an intensification of political and diplomatic efforts to resolve Tehran's nuclear issue.

According to the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin discussed the issue during a telephonic conversation with his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

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 the talks.

During the call, Putin also highlighted Russia's readiness to provide mediation assistance in promoting dialogue between Israel and Iran, and briefed his UAE counterpart on his contacts with a number of foreign leaders about this.

As Israel and Iran continued to strike each other for the sixth day, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the nuclear threat is no longer hypothetical but real in West Asia.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel is pursuing two goals -- to foil Iran's nuclear ambitions and to neutralise its missile production and attack capabilities.

All this leads not just to escalation, but to a direct threat to the region and the world because attacks are being carried out on peaceful atomic or nuclear facilities, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a radio interview.

She underscored that the nuclear threat has a practical dimension, not a hypothetical one and upheld Tehran's right to have peaceful nuclear facilities that were now under attack.

Israel launched Operation Rising Lion last week, targeting Iran's nuclear, missile and military infrastructure. Iran later launched retaliatory strikes on Israel.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Brig Gen Effie Defrin, at a press conference, said the Israeli Air Force has hit over 1,100 Iranian assets in hundreds of strikes in Iran since Friday.

Iran launched some 30 ballistic missiles at Israel in two barrages overnight, the IDF spokesperson confirmed, claiming that most of the projectiles were intercepted and there were no injuries.