Lavrov holds meeting with Arab ambassadors

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a meeting with Arab ambassadors on Wednesday to address another round of escalation in the Middle East, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions of Arab states accredited in Moscow," the diplomat said. "The request for the meeting came in late last night and was promptly fulfilled. The meeting took place today. During the exchange of views on the evolving situation in the Middle East, the main attention was paid to the ongoing unprecedented escalation of violence," the diplomat said.

"They also emphasized that all parties involved should abandon provocative actions, show restraint, a responsible approach in accordance with the well-known decisions of the UN and its Security Council", Zakharova added.

She noted that the meeting participants called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict zone. "In this context, they expressed deep concern about the increasing risks of a large-scale war in the Middle East with devastating consequences for the entire region, particularly in light of Iran's retaliatory rocket fire at Israel on October 1," the diplomat added.

She stated that the position of the Western members of the UN Security Council is one of the factors contributing to the current tragedy. "Moscow is extremely concerned about the latest dangerous escalation in the Middle East. We have repeatedly warned that unresolved crises in this region, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, carry the risk of large-scale aggravation," the diplomat said.

"We believe that a significant share of responsibility for the deterioration of the current situation lies with the US, which for almost a year has been blocking the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution that clearly calls for a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip and the provision of humanitarian assistance to its population," the spokeswoman emphasized.

The situation in the Middle East

On the evening of October 1, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, the elite unit of Iran’s armed forces) launched a massive ballistic and hypersonic missile attack against Israel. An air-raid warning was declared throughout the country, and the population was ordered to take shelter. The IRGC said that 90% of the missiles successfully hit their designated targets. Israel, in turn, said that Iran had fired some 180 missiles into the country, most of which were intercepted. The Israeli army assured that the Iranian attack did not damage the combat capability of the country’s air force.