Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said that terrorist attacks in Iran and Russia recently “are the result of the support of Western countries, especially the United States, to terrorist groups,” the Iranian government’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported last Saturday.
Ashtiani made these comments while in a meeting with his Russian counterpart the day before, where he also praised Russia’s condemnation of the alleged Israeli airstrike on the area around the Islamic Republic of Iran’s consulate in Damascus Syria, the report said.
While the article did not reveal which terror groups were being referenced by Ashtiani, both Russia and Iran have been the target of attacks by ISIS in recent months. In March, ISIS attacked an entertainment center and city hall in Crocus, killing scores of people. While ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed fingers at Ukraine, which has received notable military support from the West; especially from the United States. Similarly, in January, ISIS orchestrated an explosion in Kerman, Iran, which killed close to 100 people.
Escalating conflict between Israel and Iran
Ashtiani’s Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, said that Iran’s response to the alleged Israeli strike was in line with the Islamic Republic’s “right to legitimate defense,” which saw hundreds of drones and missiles launched from Iran at Israeli towns and cities.
Shoigu also condemned the airstrike on Iran’s embassy in Syria, which saw the death of a high-ranking IRGC official and several other IRGC members.
While Israel has not publicly admitted to have orchestrated the strike, an anonymous Israeli official told Reuters that those eliminated had “been behind many attacks on Israeli and American assets and had plans for additional attacks.”
Ashtiani also called for collaboration with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization “to eliminate common threats” after referring to NATO, according to the report, and called for developing bilateral relations with Moscow in the fields of defense and military.
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