Nuclear Facilities Should Be Taken Out Of Middle East Conflict - Senior Russian Diplomat
13:05 GMT 03.10.2024 (Updated: 14:32 GMT 03.10.2024)
© AP Photo / Mehdi GhasemiIn this file photo released on Nov. 30, 2009 by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), the reactor building of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is seen, just outside the port city of Bushehr 750 miles (1245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran
© AP Photo / Mehdi Ghasemi
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia is concerned about Israel's signals regarding a possible retaliatory strike on Iran, which could target Iranian nuclear facilities, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists at a press conference on Thursday, adding that it is unacceptable to even consider such scenarios.
"We see a reason for serious concern. In principle, it is clear that any escalation of the current conflict is fraught with grave consequences. I also want to say that nuclear facilities as such, in any case, should always be take out of any conflict," Ryabkov said.
According to him, "in the current situation, with highly alarming escalation signals coming from Israel, the international community, including the IAEA and its leadership, needs to raise its voice, emphasizing the inadmissibility of even considering such scenarios."
"The catastrophic consequences of an attack on any nuclear facility are virtually guaranteed, both in terms of environmental impact and public health—this is clear to everyone," Ryabkov stressed.
Ryabkov added that Russia and the United States did not discuss the crisis in the Middle East through diplomatic channels.
"No. We have completely opposite approaches," Ryabkov told reporters, answering a relevant question.
Israel started a ground operation against Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon on Monday, while the mutual exchange of air and rocket strikes also continues. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday that about 1.2 million people, including Syrian refugees, were displaced due to the hostilities. The minister for social affairs in his government, Hector Hajjar, told Sputnik that refugee accommodation centers were running out of capacity.
The declared goal of Israel's military campaign is to create conditions for the return of about 60,000 people displaced from the north as a result of Hezbollah's attacks, which the Shia movement launched in response to Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip last year.
On BRICS Development Plans
All decisions on accepting new BRICS members are made by consensus, and Moscow respects Ankara's intentions to joint the association, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said.
"As for Ankara's application to join the BRICS, I would like to emphasize that all decisions in the association are made by consensus, we respect the desire of Turkiye, as well as all other states interested in building systemic interaction with the BRICS in order to get closer to this association," Ryabkov stressed.
The final declaration of the upcoming BRICS summit in Russia's Kazan is currently in the works, senior diplomat added.
"I can share with you that we started coordinating the final document of the Kazan summit via sherpa and sous-sherpa channels. This is a declaration that incorporates the main elements of the results of the work carried out along industry lines and, of course, contains the most important political understandings and statements," Ryabkov said.
The Russian diplomat expects the top-level summit in Kazan from October 22-24 to serve as a "very important step forward in terms of strengthening BRICS itself and increasing its contribution to international affairs."
BRICS is comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, as well as its newest members admitted this year, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Russia holds the bloc's chairmanship in 2024.