MOSCOW - The Kremlin on Wednesday issued a sharp condemnation of what it termed "the murder" of Iran’s leadership following confirmation from Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency that Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had been killed in Tehran.
Asked about Larijani’s death at a press briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow "unequivocally condemn[s] any actions aimed at harming the health of, or indeed murdering or eliminating, members of the leadership of sovereign and independent Iran, as well as those of other countries. We condemn such actions."
Russia, which constructed and helps operate Iran’s only nuclear power station, has been a vocal critic of the air strikes attributed to the United States and Israel and has called for an immediate ceasefire and renewed negotiations, according to the Kremlin’s public statements.
Separately, a media report cited people familiar with the matter saying Russia had broadened intelligence sharing and stepped up military cooperation with Tehran, providing satellite imagery and enhanced drone technology to assist Iran in targeting U.S. forces in the region. When questioned about that reporting, Peskov characterised many accounts of the conflict as unreliable.
'As you know, there are currently a great many different reports circulating about this war. The vast majority are nothing more than disinformation, so we do not consider it necessary to comment on each and every one of them,' Peskov said.
He added that "official representatives of the United States have made statements on this matter, saying themselves that they have no information on the subject." The Kremlin remarks came a day after Fars reported Larijani’s death in Tehran.
The sequence of statements from Moscow reflects both an explicit denunciation of the strikes that killed a senior Iranian figure and a caution toward media reports about the extent of Russian-Iranian military collaboration.
Summary: The Kremlin condemned the killing of Iranian leaders in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes after Fars reported Ali Larijani was killed in Tehran. Dmitry Peskov denounced actions that harm or eliminate foreign leaders and questioned some media accounts about Russian support to Iran, while noting U.S. officials said they had no information on the matter.