Overview

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would react very negatively if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed, calling any talk of regime change in Iran unacceptable.
• Peskov warned that targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader would unleash extremist sentiments inside the country and risk wider regional destabilization.
• Officials noted that Russia deepened its strategic partnership with Iran in January 2025 as ties have grown closer since the Ukraine invasion.
• President Trump is set to decide within two weeks whether the US will join Israel’s military campaign against Tehran after earlier speculating publicly about killing Khamenei.
• Vladimir Putin’s offers to mediate the Israel-Iran conflict have been rebuffed by Trump, who told the Russian president to focus on resolving his own war in Ukraine.