It is not clear how Saudi Arabia, Iran’s primary regional adversary, will react to the Kremlin’s drawing closer to Tehran. The Saudi government and Moscow have joined forces recently in trying to raise oil prices, irking Washington and fueling inflation.
In Israel on Sunday, a cabinet minister, Nachman Shai, said on social media that Iran’s military assistance to Russia removed “any doubt where Israel should stand in this bloody conflict. The time has come for Ukraine to receive military aid, as well, just as the U.S.A. and NATO countries provide.”
The Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment.
Since the start of the war in February, Israel has not provided Ukraine with arms despite frequent Ukrainian requests for air-defense systems, and has been wary of criticizing Russia too strongly. Russia has given Israel a relatively free hand to strike Iranian targets in Syria, and the Israelis are also concerned about the Kremlin’s obstructing Jewish emigration.
In a sign of brewing tensions, Dmitri A. Medvedev, a former president and now deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, warned on social media Monday against any “reckless” supply of Israeli military aid to Ukraine. “It will destroy all interstate relations between our countries,” wrote Mr. Medvedev.
The deepening alliance between Russia and Iran “should be seen as a profound threat and something that any country should pay very close attention to,” said Vedant Patel, a deputy spokesman for the U.S. State Department, at a Monday news briefing. “We’re in close touch with our allies and partners, including those in the United Nations, to address Iran’s dangerous proliferation of weapons to Russia.”
The European Union is closely monitoring the use of drones, said Josep Borrell Fontelles, its foreign policy chief. The bloc had already been weighing further action against Iran for its violent crackdown against domestic dissent in recent weeks. Ukraine on Monday called for further sanctions.
