By Palestine Chronicle Staff 
“The desire and goal, it seems to me, is to divert the attention of the world community from what is happening in Gaza”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Western countries are spreading rumors about Iran’s supposed pursuit of nuclear weapons as a means to divert global attention from the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, TASS reported.
“The desire and goal, it seems to me, is to divert the attention of the world community from what is happening in Gaza, where there is a humanitarian catastrophe, and many special rapporteurs of the UN Human Rights Council are already talking about genocide, to Iran as a threat,” he said in an interview with the radio stations Sputnik, Govorit Moskva and Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Lavrov emphasized that Iran has no nuclear weapons, as confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“This is confirmed by the IAEA, Iran is the most verified country among the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Lavrov reportedly explained.
The Russian foreign ministry emphasized that Iran has no motivation to pursue nuclear armament, particularly in this situation.
“Iran has absolutely no need to deal with this now, after Iran’s response to the unacceptable attack on the Iranian consulate, where people were killed,” he said.
‘Iran Does Not Want Escalation’
Furthermore, Lavrov indicated that Russia has communicated to Israel Iran’s desire to avoid escalation, the Moscow Times reported.
“There have been telephone contacts between the leadership of Russia and Iran, our representatives and the Israelis. We made it very clear in these conversations, we told the Israelis that Iran does not want escalation,” Lavrov said.
“We continue to favor restraint on the sides and to refrain from any action that could provoke further escalation in such a sensitive region,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Israel’s Attack
Explosions were heard over an Iranian city overnight on Friday in an alleged Israeli attack. Tehran, however, played down the incident and said it has no plans to retaliate.
Iranian media and officials said that a limited number of explosions were heard, as a result of Iran’s air defenses hitting three small drones over the city of Isfahan.
Iranian officials referred to the incident as an attack by ‘infiltrators’, rather than by Israel. Reuters news agency quoted an Iranian official as saying that “the foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed.”
“We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack,” the official reportedly added.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
