Russia has condemned America’s airstrikes in Iraq and Syria and called for the situation to be looked at by the UN Security Council.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the strikes were “deliberately designed to further inflame” tensions in the Middle East.
“By attacking, almost without pause, the facilities of allegedly pro-Iranian groups in Iraq and Syria, the United States are purposefully trying to drive the largest countries in the region into conflict,” she said in a statement.
The United States launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and the militia it backs.
The attacks were launched in retaliation to a strike in Jordan which killed three US troops last weekend.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella term used by a number of Iran-backed groups in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attack.
At least 23 killed in Syria, says human rights group
At least 23 people have been killed after strikes on targeted locations in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported.
The figure was released by Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the UK-based information group, which reports on war in the country.
It comes after the Iraqi government said earlier that civilians were among 16 people killed.
