When Israel first started bombing Iran, many in Russia saw it as an opportunity, a means of drawing support and attention away from Ukraine.

Russia is appealing to Israel to show restraint in the crisis with Iran, and believes Tehran is exercising its right to self-defence, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Monday.

Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm relations with Israel even as it has developed strong economic and military ties with Iran.

Russia is pushing itself as a candidate to hold Iran's enriched uranium in hypothetical peace arrangements with Israel.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia remains ready to act as a mediator in the conflict between Israel and Iran, and Moscow's previous proposal to store Iranian uranium in Russia remains on the table, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Israel was exploiting its advantage, saying it had taken out dozens of surface-to-air missiles in western Iran and killed the intelligence chief of the Islamic Revoluti

President Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Saturday that White House envoy Steve Witkoff is ready to resume nuclear talks with Iran's foreign minister, the Russian president's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned Israel's "act of force" against Iran and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities when they spoke by phone on Monday,