Russia continues to offer no support for Iran, only standard condemnations of the Western aggression that led to the deaths of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other senior Iranian officials.
This was stated by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
On March 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, expressing condolences for the deaths of Khamenei, his family members and several Iranian officials as a result of the strikes by the US and Israel.
Putin criticized their deaths as a "murder" carried out in "cynical violation" of "human morality and international law", but did not mention the United States or Israel. Putin said Russia would remember Khamenei as a "outstanding statesman" who elevated Russian-Iranian relations to the level of strategic partnership.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held separate talks on March 1 with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi about the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and reiterated their condemnation of the strikes.
Lavrov and Wang jointly offered to coordinate their actions with the UN Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other international organizations to help "stabilize" of the situation.
Russia's standard responses continue to emphasize Russia's limited ability to support Iran and the asymmetry in Russian-Iranian relations.
The Kremlin is likely to remain constrained by its own military actions in Ukraine and its desire to extract concessions from the United States without sacrificing its goals in Ukraine.
European countries continue to take tough measures against Russian "shadow fleet" ships that sail in violation of international sanctions.
Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken announced on March 1 that Belgian forces had successfully boarded and seized a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker. with the support of French forces during Operation Blue Intruder.
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that French navy helicopters had assisted Belgian forces during the operation and noted that European countries were determined to impose sanctions on Russia.
Belgian officials told Western and Belgian media that the detained oil tanker was the Ethera, which was flying the Guinean flag and was heading towards Russia at the time of the seizure.
Data from ship tracking platform Starboard Maritime Intelligence shows that the ship had previously flown under the flags of Guinea, Panama, Martinique and Equatorial Guinea and had made at least two trips to Novorossiysk in Russia.
The Belgian action comes as Europe, particularly France, and the United States are stepping up efforts to crack down on ships that violate international sanctions.
The Russian embassy in Belgium said it had not received official notification from Brussels about the detention of the ship "Ethera" and was working to establish the nationality of its crew.