Russia condemns US, Israeli strikes on Iran, calls for return to diplomacy

Moscow, Feb 28: Russia on Saturday condemned the US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran, qualifying it as an “unprovoked” aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law and called for immediate return to diplomacy. The Russian Foreign Ministry also described the US and Israeli forces' strikes against the Iranian territory as “a pre-planned” act of aggression against an independent UN member state. The US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran early Saturday, which came after days of build-up with US President Donald Trump ramping up the pressure on Tehran to agree to a new deal on its nuclear programme.