Russia’s deputy envoy to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, told RT that calling Israel’s attack on Iran self-defence is “perverted logic,” accusing Israel of blatantly violating the UN Charter.
On Friday, Israel targeted Iranian uranium enrichment facilities and assassinated several senior military commanders and scientists, claiming the strikes were preemptive to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran, which denies pursuing a military nuclear programme, retaliated with multiple ballistic missile strikes on Israeli targets, including Tel Aviv.
Speaking to RT on Saturday, Polyansky criticised Western politicians who described Israel’s actions as “self-defence,” calling their reasoning deeply flawed.
“Every country has the right to self-defence, but Israel initiated an act of aggression against Iran, clearly breaching the UN Charter and international law. It’s incomprehensible to frame this as legitimate self-defence,” he said.
Moscow “fully supports Iran’s stance that such actions are utterly unacceptable and that no state should be allowed to act as Israel does,” Polyansky emphasised.
He described the attack as “a dangerous provocation” that undermines international law and risks “severe regional and global consequences.”
Polyansky suggested Israel’s strikes aimed to sabotage US-Iran nuclear talks, set to resume on Sunday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei stated Friday that Israel’s attack, which he claimed was “enabled” by the US, rendered diplomacy “pointless.” However, Baghaei later clarified that Tehran had not yet decided to cancel the upcoming talks in Oman.
Polyansky iterated Moscow’s support for continued US-Iran negotiations, stating, “Regarding the Iranian nuclear programme, we advocate for diplomacy and restraint.”