Bishkek: Russia is committed to working closely with Iran to find peaceful solutions to the Middle East crisis within the framework of international law, a senior Russian security official said on Thursday, as he met his Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Kyrgyzstan's capital. Alexander Venediktov, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, stated in a meeting with Ali Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, that Moscow and Tehran maintain a high level of foreign policy coordination amid difficult current circumstances and remain in regular contact at the highest levels.
According to Islamic Republic News Agency, Venediktov also strongly condemned the recent US-Israeli aggression against Iran, expressing condolences for irreparable losses of Iranian state officials and military commanders during attacks by Washington and Tel Aviv. Bagheri, who heads the Iranian delegation at the SCO security council secretaries' meeting in Bishkek, responded by saying that the US actions on the international stage showed Washington sought to turn the world into a kind of jungle where there is no place for law.
He praised Russia's firm stance against US and Israeli aggression, saying Moscow's actions had demonstrated that it would not allow the world to become a lawless jungle. Bagheri specifically highlighted Russia's veto of a draft anti-Iranian resolution at the UN Security Council, stating that Moscow's position showed Russia was a guarantor of security. He said the veto prevented the adoption of a resolution that would have increased regional instability.
This situation shows that Russia's strategic vision is to prevent the United States from using the UN Security Council to legitimize its aggressive actions, Bagheri said, adding that any US adventurism within that international mechanism would face a Russian response. 'The Americans and Israelis have created threats to our country's security and national sovereignty,' Bagheri said. 'They have not only created threats to Iran's security and national sovereignty, but also threats to international law, stability and security at the regional and global levels.'
The SCO security council secretaries' meeting, which opened on Thursday in Bishkek, aims to develop member states' cooperation in counterterrorism, extremism, illegal arms and drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other organized crimes.