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 said Sunday it had evacuated several of its citizens from Iran and halted activity at its Tehran consulate after Israeli attacks on the country sparked retaliatory missile fire towards Israel.

An ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that "a full-scale war" in the Middle East is possible following Israel's airstrikes on Iran. Israel launched a series of airstrikes across Iran early Friday,

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in separate telephone conversations on Friday, told Iran's president that Moscow condemned Israel's actions against Tehran and told Israel's prime minister that questions around Iran's nuclear programme could only be solved through diplomacy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says rising global oil prices following Israeli strikes on Iran will strengthen Russia by increasing its oil revenues, aiding its war effort in Ukraine.

Israel strikes Iranian nuclear and military sites, and Tehran retaliates with a missile attack. Meanwhile, 1,200 fallen Ukrainians returned home. Read more about what happened on Friday, June 13. Israel-Iran conflict escalation - Consequences During the night of June 13,

CAIRO (Reuters) -Iran said on Friday the dialogue with the U.S. over Tehran's nuclear programme is "meaningless" after Israel's biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.