"Iran s response should not cause war" – Former Russian diplomat

Ramallah – North-Press Agency
Ahmed Ismail

The Former Russian diplomat Vyacheslav Matuzov has told North-Press that Russia does not ask Iran not to respond to the killing of the Iranian Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani, but rather that its response should be appropriate and not leading to war.

Former Russian diplomat Matuzov hoped that the response would be political and that U.S. forces would withdraw from Iraq and the region, as their presence increases the risks of war. "I do not think that Russia is waiting for war to break out in the region," Matuzov said, but he described the U.S. assassination of the Iranian leader Qasem Soleimani as "terrorist", noting that "it didn't only affect a military figure, but a politician representing a state."

Matuzov considered that the assassination has violated the rules of the international law and the charters of the United Nations, stressing that "the American behavior is not only unacceptable for Russia, but internationally." Nevertheless, he does not expect war, because the countries of the region, even those that are at odds with Iran, turned to international public opinion in order to calm down the crisis and prevent the war from burning.

Regarding the expected Iranian response for the assassination of general Soleimani, Matuzov explained that Russia and any country in the world cannot prevent the Iranian response, because "the assassination is a terrorist act and not a natural matter." However, he advised that the response be appropriate and not affecting the regional and global conditions. He believes that the best way to prevent the war is for the United States to withdraw from all military bases in the Middle East, because it has been proven that the American presence in the region aims at creating conflicts and wars in the region, as according to the Russian analyst.