“If the Middle East is unstable, the world will not be at peace,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday. “If the conflict escalates further, not only will the conflicting parties suffer greater losses, but regional countries will also suffer greatly.”

When Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, officials in Russia described the current escalation in the Middle East as "alarming" and "dangerous."Still, Russian media were quick to stress the potential positives for Moscow.

The Israel-Iran conflict could have a spillover effect on the war in Ukraine. Russia's dependence on Iranian Shahed drones puts it in a bind.