The Washington Post reported, citing diplomats and regional officials, that Iran and Israel exchanged reassurance messages late last month through a Russian intermediary, in which both sides affirmed that they had no intention of launching pre emptive attacks against one another.
According to the newspaper’s sources, Israeli officials informed the Iranian leadership via Russia that they would not carry out strikes against Iran unless Tehran were the first to attack Israel.
The sources added that Iran responded through the Russian channel by committing to likewise refrain from launching any pre emptive attack on Israel.
The newspaper described these contacts and the Russian mediation as unusual given the hostility between the two sides, who fought a 12 day war last June.
The sources indicated that these secret reassurances reflect Israel’s desire to avoid appearing as the party escalating tensions with Iran or leading new attacks against it, at a time when Israel was signalling a major military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The newspaper noted that these covert reassurances contrast with remarks made by Israeli officials late last year, who hinted at the possibility of launching new strikes against Iran to undermine its growing stockpile of ballistic missiles.
Two officials familiar with the content of the messages said that Iranian officials responded to the Israeli initiative but remained sceptical of its intentions. Tehran believed that even if the Israeli reassurances were genuine, they did not rule out the possibility of the United States carrying out attacks on Iran as part of a coordinated campaign, while Israel focused its assault on Hezbollah.
The Washington Post quoted a senior regional official as saying that the reassurances between the two sides were a “good deal for Iran” to avoid any clash between Israel and Hezbollah.
The newspaper added that it remains unclear whether Iran and Israel will adhere to their secret understanding amid the ongoing wave of protests in Iran, which has continued for more than two weeks.
It also cited a senior regional official as saying that the exchange of reassurances between Israel and Iran took place shortly after a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Russia.
According to the newspaper, this is not the first time Russia has sought to mediate between Iran and Israel or to bolster its standing with US President Donald Trump as a broker to extract concessions in negotiations related to the war in Ukraine.
The newspaper quoted a Russian academic close to senior Russian diplomats as saying that Moscow had previously proposed mediation between Israel and Iran to Trump, but that the US president rejected the offer and asked the Russians to focus on the Ukraine file.
The Washington Post noted that it is unclear whether Washington was aware of the correspondence between Israel and Iran or took part in it.
