Putin tells Iran they can attack Iran, ‘just don’t kill any civilians’

Vladimir Putin has asked Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for a restrained response to Israel’s suspected killing of the leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh. The message, in which the Russian President said he understood the need for retaliation but asked the Islamic Republic not to target Israeli civilians, was delivered on Monday by Sergei Shoigu, a senior ally of the Kremlin leader.

Shoigu met with Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian earlier this week before holding a series of meetings with top Iranian officials as the Islamic Republic weighs its response to last week’s assassination of Haniyeh. Iranian sources described Shoigu’s visit as one of several avenues Moscow had used to relay to Iran the need for restraint while at the same time condemning Haniyeh’s killing as ‘a very dangerous assassination’, in a bid to prevent a Middle East war.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter did not provide further details on the talks with Shoigu, who was defence minister before becoming the secretary of Russia ‘s security council in May. But they warned that the Middle East is on the brink of a major conflict, and said those behind the assassination of Haniyeh (pictured) are bent on triggering a wider war.

Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and for months has been preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with Tehran. Neither Iranian nor Russian officials have offered comment on this week’s talks, but Russia’s state-run RIA news agency reported yesterday that Shoigu confirmed the assassination of Hamas’ Haniyeh in Tehran, and Iran’s response, were topics of discussion. 

Tehran also pressed Moscow for the delivery of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets during Shoigu’s visit, sources told Reuters, a key element of their ever-deepening military cooperation that has seen Iran provide countless kamikaze drones for Putin’s so-called ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. In Washington meanwhile, an official from the Biden administration warned that there is a real risk of tensions spilling over into widespread violence if Iran were to launch a major strike on Israel. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, emphasised that the scale of Iran’s and Hezbollah’s response would be a key factor in determining the extent of a potential conflict. Despite efforts by Western and regional states to persuade Iran to retaliate in a measured way, or not at all, Tehran has told foreign officials it will respond ‘severely’ to the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, where he attended President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration, four Iranian sources independently confirmed.

In Lebanon, a prominent Lebanese source close to Hezbollah said ‘a retaliatory strike is inevitable and diplomacy is no longer a viable option’, adding Iran wants the strike to be ‘severe’ but not lead to a regional war. However, he said, this does not rule out the possibility of a war in Lebanon between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel. A Middle East-focused senior US official said Washington was doing all it can ‘to dissuade all parties from going to a place they can’t get back from,’ stressing that other states in the region and Europe should do more.

A Qatari official said Doha was in constant discussion with Iran to lessen tensions. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Monday that Israel must be prepared for anything, including a swift transition to offensive strikes. The country’s response to any attack by Hezbollah or Iran would likely depend more on the damage caused rather than the scale of the attack, according to two sources familiar with recent Israeli assessments.

While regional and international partners sought to calm tensions amid the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran last week, Hamas announced yesterday that Yahya Sinwar (pictured), its top official in Gaza who masterminded the October 7 attacks in Israel, had been made the group’s new leader. The selection of Sinwar, a calculated and secretive figure close to Iran , is widely seen as a defiant signal that the group is prepared to keep fighting Israel despite Haniyeh’s death. Gaza has suffered 10 months of hell, with huge swathes of the Strip demolished and almost 40,000 people said to have been killed amid incessant Israeli strikes. But Sinwar is a ruthless hardliner who has vowed to fight to the bitter end and worked decades to develop Hamas’ military and intelligence capabilities.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television of his appointment: ‘There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and it is beside Mohammed Deif and the rest of the October 7th terrorists. ‘That is the only place we’re preparing and intending for him.’ Hamas released a brief statement on his appointment that read: ‘The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces the selection of Commander Yahya Sinwar as the head of the political bureau of the movement, succeeding the martyr Commander Ismail Haniyeh, may [God] have mercy on him.’

But Lebanon’s Hezbollah immediately declared its staunch support of Sinwar, highlighting his appointment as a symbol of Israeli failure in Gaza. ‘Selecting the brother Yahya Sinwar (pictured) from the heart of the besieged Gaza Strip – who is present the frontlines with resistance fighters and between the children of his people, under the rubble, blockade, killings and starvation – reasserts that the goals the enemy is seeking by killing leaders have failed,’ the group said. Iran backs Hamas, which is at war with Israel in Gaza, and also Hezbollah, with whom Israel has been trading fire since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and ignited the Gaza conflict.

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