JERUSALEM/ ISTANBUL

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought the help of Russian President Vladimir Putin to relay reassuring messages to Iran that Tel Aviv does not intend to attack it, amid fears of a preemptive strike by Tehran, Israeli media reported on Monday.

Public broadcaster KAN, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, said Netanyahu asked Putin to convey “reassurance” messages to Iran that Israel has no plans to launch an attack.

Accoring to the outlet, the messages were recently delivered to Iran, including through phone calls between Netanyahu and Putin, amid concerns that Tehran might move to strike Israel preemptively to avert a possible Israeli attack.

KAN reported that the Russian president said last October that he had been asked to pass along a message to Iran stating that Israel was “not interested in escalation.”

Netanyahu, however, told the Knesset on Monday that Israel sent a message to Iran that if Israel is attacked, it would face “very severe consequences.”

KAN said that there was concern within Israel that a miscalculation by Iran could lead to an attack driven by fears of an imminent Israeli strike.

In recent weeks, Israeli political and security leaders have held discussions on various security issues, including the Iranian file.

Speculation has recently increased in Israeli media about a potential Israeli strike on Iran, against the backdrop of what has been described as Tehran’s “rebuilding of its ballistic missile program.”

Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June, with Tehran retaliating with drone and missile attacks. The US military bombed three major Iranian nuclear facilities — Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan — using bunker-buster bombs during the assault, before Washington managed to strike a ceasefire deal between the two arch-foes.