ISTANBUL

The US-Israel "aggression" against Iran could spur a movement in the country and its neighbours in favor of developing nuclear weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday, state news agency TASS reported.

Addressing a press conference after talks with Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs Erivan Yusof in Moscow, Lavrov said "the seemingly paradoxically declared noble goal of starting a war to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons could stimulate completely opposite trends."

"This action, this war that has now been started against Iran, could, firstly, spur a movement in favor of developing nuclear weapons, and not only in Iran," but in neighboring Arab countries as well.

Lavrov underlined that the threat to global nuclear security is escalating and growing due to Middle East conflict.

He added that there is confirmation from the International Atomic Energy Agency and US intelligence that Iran was not attempting to make nuclear weapons.

The US and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on Saturday, killing several top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehran has responded with drone and missile attacks targeting Israel and US-linked sites in Gulf countries.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to destroy Iran's missiles, raze its missile industry to the ground and annihilate the navy, reiterating that it cannot have a nuclear weapon.

The strikes came as talks between Washington and Tehran over the latter's nuclear program were ongoing under Oman’s mediation.