It is unclear how Saudi Arabia, Iran’s main regional adversary, will react to the Kremlin’s rapprochement with Tehran. The Saudi government and Moscow recently joined forces in an attempt to raise oil prices, angering Washington and fueling inflation.
In Israel on Sunday, a cabinet minister, Nachman Shai, said on social media that Iran’s military assistance to Russia had removed “any doubt about Israel’s position in this bloody conflict.” The time has come for Ukraine to also receive military aid, just like the United States and NATO countries.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
Since the start of the war in February, Israel has not supplied Ukraine with weapons despite frequent Ukrainian requests for air defense systems, and has been careful not to criticize Russia too strongly. Russia has given Israel a relatively free hand to strike Iranian targets in Syria, and Israelis are also concerned about the Kremlin’s obstruction of Jewish emigration.
In a sign of simmering tensions, Dmitry A. Medvedev, former president and now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, warned Monday on social media against any “reckless” provision of Israeli military aid to Ukraine. “It will destroy all interstate relations between our countries,” Medvedev wrote.
The deepening of the alliance between Russia and Iran “must be seen as a deep threat and something that every country should pay close attention to,” said Vedant Patel, deputy spokesman for the US State Department. , during a press briefing on Monday. “We are in close contact with our allies and partners, including those in the United Nations, to address the dangerous proliferation of weapons from Iran to Russia.”
The European Union is closely monitoring the use of drones, said Josep Borrell Fontelles, its foreign policy chief. The bloc had already considered further action against Iran for its violent crackdown on domestic dissent in recent weeks. Ukraine on Monday called for new sanctions.