ISTANBUL

Russia said Monday that it has discussed the topic of Iran with the US “in recent days” at specialized platforms amid escalating military tensions between Tehran and Israel..

Regional tension has escalated since Friday after Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on multiple sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.

Israeli authorities said at least 24 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Iranian missile attacks since Friday. Iran, for its part, said that at least 224 people were killed and over 1,000 others wounded in the Israeli assault.

“The topic of Iran is heard in our contacts with American representatives. We have conveyed the corresponding impulses to the American side,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists in a briefing in Moscow, according to Russian state media, including Tass, noting that this has been happening at specialized international multilateral platforms “in recent days.”

Ryabkov noted that what is happening is "very alarming," and that the Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring the situation and is in contact with the parties involved.

He argued that Iran is acting within its right to self-defense in the current situation and urged Israel to exercise "restraint and common sense" in light of the potential dangers of the nuclear facility strikes.

“We are addressing this appeal to the Israeli leadership. What will happen next depends to a decisive degree on this,” he added.

The deputy foreign minister expressed Russia's concern about the risks to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant amid the tensions, adding that Moscow sees no alternative to a political and diplomatic settlement, despite the cancellation of the next round of US-Iran nuclear talks in Oman, which were scheduled to take place last Sunday.

“What is needed is not an escalation path, not a spiral of power, which, by and large, causes the most serious anxiety and is fraught with the most serious consequences, but a manifestation of common sense and a return to the negotiating table,” he added.