Putin discussed the situation in the Middle East with Iraqi Prime Minister by phone

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani. This was reported in the Kremlin press service on November 21.

During the conversation they discussed the development of Russian-Iraqi cooperation in trade, logistics, humanitarian sphere and energy. The leaders confirmed their intention to expand bilateral ties in accordance with the agreements reached at the meeting between Putin and Sudani in Moscow in October 2023.

During the conversation, they raised issues of cooperation within the OPEC+ framework, emphasized the importance of coordinating actions to maintain stability in the global oil market.

"Middle East issues were also touched upon in light of the unprecedented escalation of tensions in the region," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Earlier, on November 18, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Iraq is responsible for the actions of pro-Iranian groups that are carried out from its territory against Israel. He also called on the country to fulfill its obligations to respect and uphold international law.

On November 15, the media reported about Israel's destruction of a nuclear research facility in Iran. It was specified that the Taleghan 2 site, which was hit, was chosen by Israel "in retaliation for Iran's massive missile attack on October 1."

Prior to that, on October 1, Iran conducted a massive missile attack on Israel. Jewish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tehran had made a big mistake and would pay for it.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas subjected Israel's territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.