Russia signed a strategic partnership with Iran in January and also has a relationship with Israel, although that relationship is strained by Russia's war in Ukraine. Russia's offer to mediate the Israel-Iran conflict was not accepted.

Ryabkov said on the sidelines of an economic forum in St. Petersburg that Moscow was urging Washington to refrain from direct involvement."This would be a step that would radically destabilize the whole situation," he said, criticizing such"speculative options."

The head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, said the situation between Iran and Israel was now critical, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure meant the world was"a few millimeters" away from a catastrophe.

"Nuclear facilities are under attack," she said, adding that the UN nuclear safety watchdog had already observed significant damage.

Israel says it struck Iranian nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from developing an atomic weapon. Iran denies it intends to develop nuclear weapons.