Russia warns US against ‘military intervention’ in Iran-Israel war

Smokes raises from a building of the Soroka hospital complex after it was hit by a missile fired from Iran in Be’er Sheva, Israel, June 19, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 19 June 2025
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Russia warns US against ‘military intervention’ in Iran-Israel war

  • Zakharova said: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation“
  • Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step”

MOSCOW: Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday warned the United States not to take military action against Iran, amid speculation over whether Washington will enter the war alongside Israel.

Moscow issued its warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a phone call condemned Israeli attacks on Iran and urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes at Iran last week, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel’s strikes. “I may do it, I may not do it,” he said.

Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation.”

Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” she added.

Earlier on Thursday, following the leaders’ call, the Kremlin said Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions.”

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities “should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”


US, Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye urge restraint in Gaza after Miami talks

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US, Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye urge restraint in Gaza after Miami talks

  • Top officials from each nation met with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, to review the first stage of the ceasefire

MIAMI: The US was joined Saturday by Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye in urging parties in the Gaza ceasefire to uphold their obligations and exercise restraint, the chief US envoy said after talks in Miami.

Top officials from each nation met with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, to review the first stage of the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.

“We reaffirm our full commitment to the entirety of the President’s 20-point peace plan and call on all parties to uphold their obligations, exercise restraint, and cooperate with monitoring arrangements,” said a statement posted by Witkoff on X.

Their meeting came amid continuing strains on the agreement.

Gaza’s civil defense said six people were killed Friday in Israeli shelling of a shelter. That brought to 400 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the deal took effect.

Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of violating the truce, with the military reporting of its three soldiers killed in the territory since October.

Saturday’s statement cited progress yielded in the first stage of the peace agreement, including expanded humanitarian assistance, return of hostage bodies, partial force withdrawals and a reduction in hostilities.

It called for “the near-term establishment and operationalization” of a transitional administration which is due to happen in the second phase of the agreement, and said consultations would continue in the coming weeks over its implementation.

Under the deal’s terms, Israel is supposed to withdraw from its positions in Gaza, an interim authority is to govern the Palestinian territory instead of Hamas, and an international stabilization force is to be deployed.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope that countries would contribute troops for the stabilization force, but also urged the disarmament of Hamas, warning the process would unravel unless that happened.