Kremlin Says Middle East Is Plunging into ‘Abyss of Instability and War’ 

A destroyed building is pictured at the site of an Iranian missile attack in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
A destroyed building is pictured at the site of an Iranian missile attack in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Kremlin Says Middle East Is Plunging into ‘Abyss of Instability and War’ 

A destroyed building is pictured at the site of an Iranian missile attack in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)
A destroyed building is pictured at the site of an Iranian missile attack in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv, on June 19, 2025. (AFP)

The Kremlin warned on Friday that the Middle East was plunging into "an abyss of instability and war" and said Moscow was worried by events and still stood ready to mediate. 

Russia, which has warm ties with Iran and also maintains close links to Israel, has urged the US not to strike Iran and has called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis around Tehran's nuclear program to be found. 

Asked on Friday if Russia had any red lines when it came to the situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that countries in the region were the ones who should have their own red lines. 

"The region is plunging into an abyss of instability and war," Peskov said. 

"This war is fraught with (the risk of) geographic expansion and unpredictable consequences. This region is at our borders. It's potentially dangerous for us and we are concerned." 

Although Russia does not border any country in the Middle East its southern North Caucasus region borders a belt of former Soviet republics which in turn border Iran and Türkiye. 

Peskov said that Moscow observed for now that Israel wanted to continue its military action against Iran, but said Russia has lines of communication open with Israel, the US and Iran. 

Peskov said it was hard to predict whether an offer by President Vladimir Putin to mediate in the crisis would be taken up or not, but said that Moscow favored an end to hostilities and a move to diplomacy as soon as possible. 

Russian nuclear energy chief Alexei Likhachev said the situation at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, where hundreds of Russian specialists work, was "normal" and under control. 

The Israeli military said at one point on Thursday that it had struck the Russian-built Bushehr facility, but later said the comment had been made by mistake. Likhachev, head of the state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, said on Thursday that any attack on the plant could cause a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster. 

On Friday he told reporters in St Petersburg: "We...very much hope that all our signals from yesterday reached the Israeli leadership." 

Likhachev said Russia has just over 300 staff at Bushehr and a total presence of about 500 people, including family members. 



France Accuses Iran of ‘Repression’ in Sentence for Nobel Laureate

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
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France Accuses Iran of ‘Repression’ in Sentence for Nobel Laureate

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)
People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP)

France accused Iran on Monday of "repression and intimidation" after a court handed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi a new six-year prison sentence on charges of harming national security.

Mohammadi, sentenced Saturday, was also handed a one-and-a-half-year prison sentence for "propaganda" against Iran's system, according to her foundation.

"With this sentence, the Iranian regime has, once again, chosen repression and intimidation," the French foreign ministry said in a statement, describing the 53-year-old as a "tireless defender" of human rights.

Paris is calling for the release of the activist, who was arrested before protests erupted nationwide in December after speaking out against the government at a funeral ceremony.

The movement peaked in January as authorities launched a crackdown that activists say has left thousands dead.

Over the past quarter-century, Mohammadi has been repeatedly tried and jailed for her vocal campaigning against Iran's use of capital punishment and the mandatory dress code for women.

Mohammadi has spent much of the past decade behind bars and has not seen her twin children, who live in Paris, since 2015.

Iranian authorities have arrested more than 50,000 people as part of their crackdown on protests, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).


Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Iranians to Show 'Resolve' against Foreign Pressure

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
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Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Iranians to Show 'Resolve' against Foreign Pressure

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).
Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on (File Photo/Supreme Leader's website).

Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Monday called on his compatriots to show "resolve" ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution this week.

Since the revolution, "foreign powers have always sought to restore the previous situation", Ali Khamenei said, referring to the period when Iran was under the rule of shah Reza Pahlavi and dependent on the United States, AFP reported.

"National power is less about missiles and aircraft and more about the will and steadfastness of the people," the leader said, adding: "Show it again and frustrate the enemy."


UK PM's Communications Director Quits

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
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UK PM's Communications Director Quits

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at Horntye Park Sports Complex in St Leonards, Britain, February 05, 2026. Peter Nicholls/Pool via REUTERS

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's director of communications Tim Allan resigned on Monday, a day after Starmer's top aide Morgan McSweeney quit over his role in backing Peter Mandelson over his known links to Jeffrey Epstein.

The loss of two senior aides ⁠in quick succession comes as Starmer tries to draw a line under the crisis in his government resulting from his appointment of Mandelson as ambassador to the ⁠US.

"I have decided to stand down to allow a new No10 team to be built. I wish the PM and his team every success," Allan said in a statement on Monday.

Allan served as an adviser to Tony Blair from ⁠1992 to 1998 and went on to found and lead one of the country’s foremost public affairs consultancies in 2001. In September 2025, he was appointed executive director of communications at Downing Street.