ST PETERSBURG, Russia: President Vladimir Putin on Thursday refused to discuss the possibility that Israel and the United States would kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the Iranian people were consolidating around the leadership in Tehran.<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly speculated that Israel\u2019s military attacks could result in regime change in Iran while US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US knew where Khamenei was \u201chiding\u201d but that Washington was not going to kill him \u201cfor now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what his reaction would be if Israel did kill Khamenei with the assistance of the United States, Putin said: \u201cI do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to.\u201d<\/p>\n
When pressed, Putin said he had heard the remarks about possibly killing Khamenei but that he did not want to discuss it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see that today in Iran, with all the complexity of the internal political processes taking place there…that there is a consolidation of society around the country\u2019s political leadership,\u201d Putin told senior news agency editors in the northern Russian city of St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
Putin said all sides should look for ways to end hostilities in a way that ensured both Iran\u2019s right to peaceful nuclear power and Israel\u2019s right to the unconditional security of the Jewish state.<\/p>\n
Putin was speaking as Trump kept the world guessing whether the US would join Israel\u2019s bombardment of Iranian nuclear and missile sites and as residents of Iran\u2019s capital streamed out of the city on the sixth day of the air assault.<\/p>\n
Putin said he had been in touch with Trump and with Netanyahu, and that he had conveyed Moscow\u2019s ideas on resolving the conflict while ensuring Iran\u2019s continued access to civil nuclear energy.<\/p>\n
Iranian nuclear facilities<\/p>\n
Questioned about possible regime change in Iran, Putin said that before getting into something, one should always look at whether or not the main aim is being achieved before starting something.<\/p>\n
He said Iran\u2019s underground uranium enrichment facilities were still intact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese underground factories, they exist, nothing has happened to them,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to me that it would be right for everyone to look for ways to end hostilities and find ways for all parties to this conflict to come to an agreement with each other,\u201d Putin said. \u201cIn my opinion, in general, such a solution can be found.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if Russia was ready to provide Iran with modern weapons to defend itself against Israeli strikes, Putin said a strategic partnership treaty signed with Tehran in January did not envisage military cooperation and that Iran had not made any formal request for assistance.<\/p>\n
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Moscow was telling the United States not to strike Iran because it would radically destabilize the Middle East.<\/p>\n
A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry also warned that Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities risked triggering a nuclear catastrophe.<\/p>\n
Putin said that Israel had given Moscow assurances that Russian specialists helping to build two more reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran would not be hurt in air strikes.<\/p>\n
Putin said that Moscow had \u201ca very good relationship with Iran\u201d and that Russia could ensure Iran\u2019s interests in nuclear energy.<\/p>\n
Russia has offered to take enriched uranium from Iran and to supply nuclear fuel to the country\u2019s civil energy program.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is possible to ensure Iran\u2019s interests in the field of peaceful nuclear energy. And at the same time, to address Israel\u2019s concerns about its security,\u201d Putin said. \u201cWe have outlined them (our ideas) to our partners from the USA, Israel and Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ST PETERSBURG, Russia: President Vladimir Putin on Thursday refused to discuss the possibility that Israel and the United States would kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and said the Iranian people were consolidating around the leadership in Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly speculated that Israel\u2019s military attacks could result in regime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-485233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n