Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Friday after Israel hit Iran in a series of strikes.

By Andrew Osborn and Alexander Marrow (Reuters) -Russian leader Vladimir Putin told Iran's president over the phone on Friday that Moscow condemned Israeli actions against Tehran, and in a separate telephone conversation told Israel's prime minister that only diplomacy could resolve issues around Iran's nuclear programme.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken on the phone with both sides following Israeli airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran, according to a statement from the Kremlin on Friday. In conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian,