The Swiss newspapers Le Temps and the French newspaper Le Parisien agreed that Russia was careful not to condemn the attack launched by Iran on Israel, and that Tehran benefited in its attack from Russia's experience in large-scale air strikes, although they differed in the angle of treatment and some details.

Le Temps spoke about the exchange of phrases between the Israeli ambassador to Moscow, Simona Galperin, who said, "We expect our Russian colleagues to condemn the unprecedented Iranian attack on Israeli territory."

And Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded violently, saying, “Simona, remind me when did Israel condemn even a single strike carried out by the Kiev regime on Russian regions? You don’t remember? I do, but I remember the regular statements of Israeli officials supporting the criminal and terrorist actions taken on Bankova Street.” ", referring to the presidential residence in Kiev.

The newspaper indicated that this is the position that Moscow appears to be adopting this time, and the Russian media has praised the Iranian regime's "firm and thoughtful action" and mocked American weakness.

Symbolic attack?

As for the attack itself, Lotan adds, analysts tend to downplay its impact, describing it as “symbolic” and even the result of a somewhat implicit “deal” on the part of the main players, so that Iran can “save face” without provoking “World War III.” But - as they say - “for us, it is above all an excellent opportunity to judge the effectiveness of Iranian weapons.”

It continued that Russian experts indicated that Tehran's attack was directly inspired by Russia's "multi-means strikes" strategy in Ukraine, to the point that some wondered whether the Iranians had summoned military advisors from Russia, noting that these strikes aimed to cause maximum damage.

The strategy of successive waves of marches - according to the newspaper - allows for what Russian experts call “reconnaissance by attacking the battlefield,” and it forces enemy air defense systems to work, thus revealing their locations, and this is exactly what the Russian army is doing with its Iranian marches to destroy Patriot batteries in Ukraine. .

“Thanks to this attack, Iran was certainly able to get an idea of the operation of air defenses in the entire region, and not just the Israeli Iron Dome,” Lotan quoted Sasha Kots, a correspondent for the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily, as saying, “and based on this knowledge, new and more effective attacks can be planned.” ".

The newspaper warned that using cheap and easy-to-manufacture drones is an excellent process from a financial standpoint, because it forces the enemy to “spend” expensive ammunition to neutralize them, as the cost of anti-missile missiles launched by mobile batteries or fighter aircraft is considered very high.

Balancing process

For its part, Le Parisien newspaper focused on Moscow’s reference to an “act of self-defense” on the part of Iran, after it “strongly condemned” the Israeli strike in Damascus two weeks ago, and pointed to some Russian official media saying that the higher the fever in the Middle East Russia's situation was better.

David Turtree, a lecturer at the Catholic Institute of Graduate Studies, said that Moscow is playing a “complicated balancing act in the Middle East, because plunging into escalation would complicate the situation for the Russian armed forces present in Syria.”

According to Igor Delanoy, deputy director of the Franco-Russian Observatory, the crisis could “disrupt maritime traffic and Russian exports, and the conflict may encourage regional powers to try to obtain nuclear weapons, which is not suitable for Russia.”

The newspaper pointed out that David Tortrey and Igor Delanoy rule out that what some have noticed of the similarities between the Iranian attack and the methods used by the Russians in Ukraine is due to advice from Moscow to Tehran regarding this plan, because Russia and Israel - according to Igor Delanoy - do not want “a rift.” “You will resume more cordial relations once tensions dissipate.”

David Turtree expands the scope to include the entire region, where Moscow - in his opinion - occupies the role of arbiter, that is, the only superpower that talks to everyone in the region, and has no interest in choosing one side over another in the event of a “fire breaking out.”

Source: Le Parisien + Lotan