President Dmitry Medvedev said Israeli officials have assured him that they aren’t planning a military strike on Iran.
In an interview with CNN television broadcast Sunday, Medvedev also confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret visit to Moscow this month that included a meeting with him.
In a transcript of the interview released by the Kremlin, Medvedev hedges on the question of whether Russia would support Iran if it were attacked by Israel.
Although Russia has no defense agreement with Iran “this does not mean we would like to be or will be indifferent to such an occurrence. This is the worst thing that can be imagined,” Medvedev said of an Israeli strike.
“What would happen after that? Humanitarian disaster, a vast number of refugees, Iran’s wish to take revenge — and not only upon Israel, to be honest, but upon other countries as well.
“But my Israeli colleagues told me they were not planning to act in this way, and I trust them,” Medvedev said.
It was not clear whether those referred to included Netanyahu, who vanished from public view for most of the day on Sept. 7. “Prime Minister Netanyahu came to Moscow. He did this under a closed regime; this was his decision. I don’t understand what this was connected with, but sometimes our partners decide it this way,” Medvedev said. He did not give details of the meeting.
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