Russia’s foreign ministry has said that the recent attack on Lebanese group, Hezbollah was designed to “provoke a major war in the Middle East.”
Maria Zakharova, Spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, said in a statement, “We regard what happened as yet another act of hybrid warfare against Lebanon, which has harmed thousands of innocent people.”
“It appears that the organisers of this high-tech attack deliberately sought to foment a large-scale armed confrontation in order to provoke a major war in the Middle East,” she added.
She pointed out that against the background of soaring tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border “such irresponsible actions are fraught with extremely dangerous consequences, as they provoke a new round of escalation.”
She said that Russia strongly condemns the unprecedented attack “on friendly Lebanon and its citizens, which constitutes a gross violation of its sovereignty and a serious challenge to international law with the use of unconventional weapons.”
“We offer our sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wish prompt recovery to the injured,” Zakharova said.
Zakharova stated that the international community should be paying close attention to the event.
“It is necessary to conduct a comprehensive investigation into this crime and bring all those responsible to justice to ensure that this act of terrorism should not be swept under the carpet, which the Western countries have been trying to do in relation to the investigation of the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions.”
Maria Zakharova
“We urge all parties involved for restraint and for refraining from steps that may further destabilize the military and political situation in the Middle East,” Zakharova concluded.
The Kremlin additionally said that the incident could become a trigger for a wider regional conflict.
Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov told the media, “The causes and circumstances of the incident must be established and those behind it must be identified.”
Professor Says Situation Can Get Out Of Hand
Farhad Ibragimov, Professor at the Faculty of Economics of the People’s Friendship University of Russia, opined, “What happened can be viewed as yet another step toward the escalation of tensions.”
“The situation is already indeed hanging by a thread and can get out of hand because both opposing sides, Israel and Hezbollah, have been making rather tough statements lately, balancing on the verge of an all-out war. Even Iran is trying to postpone this moment, fully realizing its consequences.”
Farhad Ibragimov
Ibragimov alluded that Israel was responsible.
“There is definitely an Israeli fingerprint here, although Israel will not claim responsibility because they do not want to get directly involved in a major war even though some politicians are saying that the country is ready for it,” he stated.
“Iran will certainly make rather tough statements but will not go beyond them, realizing that harsher moves may trigger irreparable consequences. Hezbollah is being provoked to an open war, the movement may carry out some operations in Israel in response, so the situation here is rather dangerous.”
Farhad Ibragimov
Moreover, Grigory Lukyanov, Researcher at the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that a truly serious, substantial blow has been dealt to Hezbollah’s combat ability, “precisely from the point of view of coordinating actions.”
“This strike will have an effect for some time. Until the coordination is restored, Hezbollah will remain vulnerable which can make Israel’s potential large-scale operation more effective than without this groundwork.”
Grigory Lukyanov
“On the other hand, the destructive impact on Hezbollah may be so strong that it might take any large-scale military operation off the agenda, while the supporters of a limited operation may get additional arguments in favor of it,” Lukyanov added.
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