The Russian Foreign Ministry declared Iran's right to self-defense

Iran is acting within the framework of the right to self-defense in the situation with the shelling of its territory by Israel. This was announced on June 16 by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

"We believe that Iran is acting within the framework of its right to self—defense in this situation," he told reporters.

In addition, according to the diplomat, Israel must show restraint because of the possible dangerous consequences of attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities.

"The topic of Iran is mentioned in our contacts with American representatives. We have transmitted the relevant impulses to the American side. In recent days, this has been happening on relevant international multilateral platforms," Ryabkov added, adding that the Russian Foreign Ministry is in constant contact and directly with the parties to the conflict.

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At the same time, prolonging the fighting increases Tehran's chances, experts say.

Iran earlier that day extended the closure of its airspace until Tuesday, June 17. The representative of the Civil Aviation Organization of the Republic, Mehdi Ramezani, clarified that the measure would be in effect until 02:00 local time (01:30 Moscow time). Prior to that, the airspace was declared closed until 14:00 (13:30 Moscow time) on June 16.

Tasnim news agency reported on June 15 that Iranian missiles hit the area of Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. Later, IDF spokeswoman Anna Ukolova told Izvestia that "there were no reports of rockets falling at the airport."

Israel struck Iran on June 13 and declared a state of emergency. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the purpose of the military operation is to strike at Iran's nuclear infrastructure.