Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the potential for regime change in Iran “unacceptable” as Israel wages war on Tehran.
Peskov added that an assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would lead to extremism inside the country.
“[Regime change in Iran] is unimaginable. It should be unacceptable, even talking about that should be unacceptable for everyone,” Peskov said in an interview with Sky News published Friday. “Those who are speaking about [killing Khamenei], they should keep it in mind. They will open the Pandora’s box.”
Peskov also said the direct participation of other actors in the conflict “is potentially even more dangerous,” as the U.S. mulls providing military support to Israel.
“It will lead only to another circle of confrontation and escalation of tension in the region,” he added. Russia, for its part, has been carrying out a full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine for more than three years now, in an assault that upended Europe’s established security architecture.
The Kremlin spokesperson’s comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump’s team said Thursday he would decide within “two weeks” whether America will join Israel in its military campaign against Tehran.
Earlier Thursday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that killing Khamenei was not Israel’s goal, but added that his removal would ultimately benefit the Iranian people. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had said Thursday morning that Khamenei “will be held accountable” after a hospital in Israel was damaged in a missile strike.
On Friday morning, an Iranian missile struck the southern Israeli city of Be’er-Sheva, damaging buildings and injuring seven people after what local authorities described as a “direct hit.”
In response, the Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes on three Iranian missile platforms poised for launch and reported killing an Iranian commander involved in the operation.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), more than 60 fighter jets struck dozens of military targets in Iran overnight, including missile production facilities in the Tehran area.
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