We express support for the defense of Irans interests: Watch the exclusive interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on France 2.

Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, Moscow’s attitude towards France and the European Union… The Russian Foreign Minister answered questions from Léa Salamé on Thursday in the 8pm news on France 2.

This text corresponds to a portion of the interview transcription above. Click on the video to watch it in full.

Léa Salamé, presenter of the “8pm News” on France 2: Before discussing the situation in Ukraine, a question about the war in the Middle East. The Israeli-American offensive against Iran has been ongoing for twenty-seven days now. We haven’t heard much support from you for your Iranian ally, at least not with great firmness. Why?

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister: It’s not about defending Iran, which is our strategic partner and ally. First and foremost, we have defended international law. I believe that the French, who historically have always said they support international law, also support this international law. It’s unnecessary to witness it, it happens every day. The American president says he’s not interested in international law, that he will be guided by his own moral principles or instincts. So I think this is something that cannot be approved.

Furthermore, we have sent signals to the United States on several occasions. We have said that a dialogue needs to be established to resolve all the issues in the Persian Gulf, and in the Middle East region in general. Every time the United States and its allies intervene in the processes happening there, the situation becomes more complicated. Iraq has been destroyed, Syria has been destroyed, the same goes for Libya. We don’t know when the Libyan state will be restored. The same thing is happening now with the Islamic Republic of Iran. This attack is happening for the second time during negotiations, it raises questions. We have questions to ask the negotiation participants, especially the Americans, who led this process of diplomatic and political negotiations.

When members of the United States administration boast, even take pride in these assassinations, particularly the cold-blooded murder of the supreme leader or other high-ranking Iranian officials, I think the only way to describe it is cynicism. We advocate for the defense of Iran’s interests and all the countries in the region, including our closest strategic partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Yes, they are suffering from this attack launched by the United States and Israel.

These days, our Arab friends say there are two wars. One war is the US and Israel’s war against Iran. They have nothing to do with this war. However, there is a second war that was not provoked, as they say. It’s Iran’s attack on different sites in the Gulf monarchies. In fact, it’s a logic that I find difficult to share, because we need to address the root causes of this conflict, and the root cause is the key to settlements. The deep-rooted cause is this unprovoked aggression from Israel and the United States against Iran. It’s no coincidence that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in his speech yesterday, I believe, called on the United States and Israel to stop hostilities and then asked Iran not to attack the territories of other countries.

Léa Salamé, presenter of the “8pm News” on France 2: I hear you, but American intelligence services say you are helping the Iranians locate targets, locate American bases. Is that true? And to what extent is your support for Iran? Is Russia providing weapons to Iran at the moment, as we speak? Are you telling us, ‘Yes, we are providing weapons for self-defense’?

Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister: You are a very skilled journalist because you first asked, ‘Is it true that we are helping Iran?’ And then, without waiting for my response, you said, ‘How far will this assistance go?’ You know, President Putin has already answered this question. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has already commented on this issue that is currently being discussed in the media. There are mentions of intelligence that Russia may have transmitted to Iran. But we have already said that we have close relations with Iran. We have an agreement on military and technical cooperation. We have delivered certain military items to Iran, but we cannot agree with the accusation that we are helping Iran, that we are passing on intelligence.

So you mentioned the location of American bases. The coordinates of American bases in the regions are not hidden, it was information known to all, it’s public information. And the fact that Iran is attacking these military bases, in fact, it does not surprise me. Yes, we paid attention to the fact that our friends in the Gulf Cooperation Council – when it was clear that war was looming – tried to persuade the United States not to embark on this venture. They said they would not open their airspace to carry out these attacks and would not allow the use of US bases on their territory to attack Iran.

So I think people who are well versed in military affairs understand very well that these American bases have been used for intelligence gathering. And the fact that these bases are now being attacked from time to time, these are consequences of this adventure that was launched without any reason. Moreover, it must be said that the Americans evacuated a large number of military personnel from these bases, given that they were aware of what was going to happen. And so they started this aggression and dealt a severe blow to their Arab allies.