Russia slams Israel in attempts to gain power and influence in Middle East - analysis

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov put out several statements over the last few days that include claims that Israel is provoking Iran, and suggesting that Hamas and Hezbollah cannot be defeated.

The comments were seen positively in Iran, where state media reported on them. Lavrov said the “assassination of the head of the Hamas politburo [Ismail Haniyeh] was an attempt to provoke Iran and that Iran will never submit to provocative actions,” IRNA reported.

The report is based on comments Lavrov gave to RT, which was subsequently reported in RIA Novosti.

“Iran categorically does not want to succumb to provocations, to get involved in any large-scale military actions. They are trying to provoke it. The murder of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran at the new president's inauguration ceremony is, of course, a provocation. Iran did not react then, but stated that it reserves this right because its territorial integrity and sovereignty were violated – a guest of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran was deliberately eliminated,” Lavrov said.

Iranian state media re-reported this sentence, noting that “it seems that Tel Aviv is the only party that wants to start a big war between Iran and Israel with the intervention of neighboring countries,” RIA Novosti quoted Lavrov as saying.”

Russia's selective observations

Lavrov went on to assert that Israel is trying to “solve” the problem of Hamas, Hezbollah, and also pro-Iran groups in Iraq and Syria. Russia has not condemned the Hamas October 7 attack and has embraced Hamas over the last year. In addition, Russia and Iran have grown closer.

Russia claims that its policy is merely adhering to the UN Charter. The UN Charter doesn’t permit non-state actor terrorist groups like Hamas to commit genocide and massacre and kidnap hundreds of people, but Moscow doesn’t seem to address this.

Instead, Lavrov was quoted as saying, “If you respect sovereignty, then the Palestinian state, by decision of the UN Security Council, must be created precisely on the basis of its territorial integrity, within the borders that are written in the decision, and have sovereignty. They [Israel and the West] are now trying to foist some kind of ‘ersatz’ on the Palestinians, ‘something’ like closed enclaves controlled by Israel along the outer perimeter of the border. I am sure that this will not lead to anything good,” Lavrov said.

The top Russian diplomat then indicated that the situation in the Middle East has worsened since the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. “The Israeli regime does not deny the fact that it intends to take advantage of the conditions and opportunities in the region,” he said, according to the IRNA report.

At the same time that the Russian diplomat was slamming Israel, embracing Iran, and defending Hamas and Hezbollah, he also was expressing hope for a new meeting between Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the Syrian regime.“We are now proceeding from the expediency of preparing the next meeting. I am confident that it will take place in the foreseeable future. We are interested in our partners in Damascus and Ankara normalizing their relations,” he said.

In addition, he claimed Russia was in contact with Israel about the situation in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.

 “According to him, attempts to destroy the Palestinian movement Hamas in Gaza are an absolutely hopeless line. It is necessary to negotiate, since Hamas, as Lavrov noted, is part of the Palestinian people,” the report at RIA noted.

Support for Hamas 

The overall context of these reports is that Iran wants more Russian support. Moscow also wants to position itself increasingly in support of not just the Palestinians but also Hamas, in case the group comes to power in the future in place of the Palestinian Authority. Moscow wants closer ties with Turkey and with Iran and it wants to support the Syrian regime.

All this dovetails with backing Hezbollah in Lebanon. Russia sees Iran, Turkey, and Syria as key components of its multi-polar world strategy against the West designed to undermine the US-led world order that once made the US the sole global superpower.

Now things are changing and Moscow wants to play a leading role in the change. As such, Hamas becomes another proxy that can be used to ride this change, much as the Ukraine war is part of this larger policy

 The October 7 attack, for instance, can be seen in the context of the Ukraine war, a welcome distraction in Moscow’s view, and one that can be exploited to bring Moscow more influence in the Middle East. If Russia can also bring Turkey and the Syrian regime together this will be a major accomplishment for Moscow. Slamming Israel helps Moscow get to this goal.