Attack on Iran ‘catastrophe’: Lavrov

 Russia yesterday said a military strike on Iran would be a “catastrophe” with the severest consequences that risked inflaming existing tensions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also accused the West of trying to suffocate the Iranian economy and incite popular discontent with new sanctions such as a proposed oil embargo.
“As for the chances of this catastrophe happening, you would have to ask those constantly mentioning it as an option that remains on the table,” Lavrov said when asked about the chances of military action.
Lavrov told an annual foreign policy briefing that the chances of war were too dire too contemplate because they would incite inter-communal tensions in the region and flood neighbouring countries with Iranian refugees.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak had earlier said his country was not even close to deciding to attack Iran over its nuclear weapons programme and still believed that a military option remained “very far away”.