Russia has offered expressions of concern and condemnation following the recent outbreak of conflict involving its key ally, Iran, but it has so far remained largely on the sidelines.
The Kremlin said Monday that it is in “constant contact” with Iran’s leadership – though Moscow didn’t clarify who that now includes following the killing of Tehran’s supreme leader in strikes.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that “these are troubled days,” referring to the United States and Israel’s war with Iran, adding that Moscow is also continuing contacts with the leaders of the countries affected by the conflict, including the states of the Persian Gulf.
When asked if the Kremlin is consulting BRICS states – the China- and Russia-backed group of emerging economies of which Iran is a member – Peskov stated membership of BRICS does not oblige members to provide mutual assistance during an armed aggression, underscoring the limit of Moscow’s friendship.
“It is an organization of a different nature, and it involves cooperation in other areas,” Peskov said.
Iran and Russia signed a 20-year treaty in January 2025 strengthening their economic, military and political partnership. But, crucially, it stopped short of a mutual-defense pact that would obligate Moscow to come to Tehran’s aid in the event of military aggression. The limits of Moscow’s power were also on show following Israeli-US strikes on Iran in June 2025, when Moscow offered rhetorical condemnation but did not intervene or offer military support.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first official comments on Sunday since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, called the killing of Iran’s supreme leader a “cynical murder” that violated “all norms of human morality and international law.” But these strong words are just that – words.
The supreme leader now joins a growing list of partners Moscow has been unable to protect. The Kremlin was unable to stop the US from seizing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a raid by American troops in January, and longtime Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebel forces in December 2024.
These episodes reinforce a growing perception among many observers that the Kremlin’s alliances are increasingly symbolic rather than strategic guarantees.
It’s clear Moscow lays the blame for the recent outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East on the US and Israel, with the Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday calling the military campaign a “perilous course” intent on regime change.
But with the Kremlin mired in a long, grinding war of its own in Ukraine and increasingly constrained economically and militarily, Moscow’s role in the widening Middle East conflict may be limited to rhetoric.