Putin said Friday he has secured Israel's pledge to safeguard Russian personnel at Iran's Russia-built nuclear power plant.

China and Russia positioning themselves as voices of reason, calling for de-escalation of a conflict the United States is contemplating on entering — these are the optics Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin sought to project during a phone call on Thursday.

Putin has openly sided with Iran’s right to nuclear power—directly challenging the positions of both Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Speaking on the growing conflict, Putin declared that Iran is entitled to pursue nuclear energy and hinted that Western powers have no authority to deny it.