Putin in contact with Israel, Iran leaders to help 'de-escalate'

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said, offering mediation amid large-scale protests in Iran.

"Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," the Kremlin announced in a statement, asserting "Russia's readiness to continue its mediation efforts."

The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Moscow would announce "the results of our telephone conversation with the Iranian President very soon," adding that Putin "continues his efforts to facilitate de-escalation."

Pezeshkian thanked Putin in the call for Moscow's support at the United Nations, the Iranian president's office said, adding that "the role and direct involvement of the United States and the Zionist regime in recent events in Iran is evident".

At Thursday's U.N. Security Council session in New York, Russia's U.N. ambassador accused the United States of "stoking tensions and fueling hysteria" in relation to the recent protests in Iran.