Netanyahu reportedly asks Putin to assure Iran of no Israeli attack plans

Israel’s public broadcaster said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to pass a reassurance message to Iran, saying that Israel does not intend to attack it, out of concern over a possible pre-emptive strike by Tehran.

The official broadcaster, citing unnamed diplomatic sources, said Netanyahu requested that Putin deliver messages to Iran to reassure it that Israel has no plans to launch an attack.

It added that these messages were recently passed to Iran, including through phone calls between Netanyahu and Putin, amid fears that Tehran might strike Israel to prevent a possible Israeli attack.

The broadcaster also noted that the Russian president said last October that he had been asked to pass a message to Iran stating that Israel was “not interested in escalation”.

At the time, Russia’s Tass news agency quoted Putin during a visit to Tajikistan as saying: “We continue to maintain trusting contacts with Israel and receive signals from the Israeli leadership asking to convey to our Iranian friends that Israel is committed to a further settlement and is not interested in any kind of confrontation,” according to the broadcaster.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu said earlier on Monday, during a speech to the Knesset, that “Israel sent a message to Iran that if Israel is attacked, the consequences will be severe.”

READ: Netanyahu claims Israel backs Iranian people’s “aspirations for freedom