Russia will continue 'close coordination' with Iran on nuclear deal

Moscow will continue its "close coordination" with Iran on the nuclear deal, said Russia's foreign mnistry on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the landmark 2015 deal with Tehran.

Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, where the two sides "agreed to continue close coordination in this area".

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov similarly said that Moscow remains committed to the Iran nuclear deal.

In a press conference with the visiting German counterpart, Lavrov slammed the US pull-out as a "significant" violation.

"We are seriously concerned about the decision of the US administration to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), thereby committing a significant violation of Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2231," Lavrov said, referring to the deal by its official name.

Lavrov added that while they could not "do anything" about the US sanctions, the decisions of the UNSC would not be revisited.

The comments come amid a regional flare-up between Israel and Iran in Syria.

Russia is the latest to join a number of countries calling for dialogue between Israel and Iran following Israeli strikes against Iranian targets in Syria.

Speaking at a press conference Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "this is a very disturbing trend. We proceed from the fact that all the issues should be solved through dialogue".

He added that Russia had warned Israel to avoid "all actions that could be seen as provocative" merely a day before the strikes when Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in Moscow for talks with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Netanyahu's office told Putin in a statement that "it is the right of every state - certainly the right of Israel - to take the necessary steps in order to protect itself from (Iranian) aggression", referring to Iran's presence in Syria.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia's deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov called for "restraint on all sides", saying Russia was "concerned" at the escalation.

Tel Aviv launched repeated rounds of rocket fire into Syria, targeting Iranian bases overnight.

Israel's military said Iranian forces in Syria had fired missiles at Israeli army positions in the occupied Golan Heights. 

Iranian forces in Syria reportedly fired around 20 rockets and missiles at Israeli army positions in the occupied Golan Heights, which Tel Aviv said missed their targets with four projectiles shot down.

Bahrain supported Trump's decision on the nuclear deal,  and also backed Israel's strikes in a rare - possibly unprecedent - public stance by an Arab government with Israel, against another Muslim-majority nation, Iran.  

France urged restraint, with French President Emmanuel Macron calling for a "de-escalation" in Syria. The UK also called for restraint but blamed Iran for provoking Israel. 

Germany, however, proportioned blame on Iran, and accused it of "provocation" after it fired a battery of rockets and missiles at Israeli army positions in the occupied Golan Heights.

"These attacks are a serious provocation that we strongly condemn. As we have always emphasised, Israel has a right to self-defence," said a German foreign ministry spokeswoman said in a statement.

She added that it is "crucial that there is no further escalation".

The strikes are one of Israel's largest military operations in recent years, and the biggest against Iranian targets.