Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi and called on all sides to exercise restraint to prevent further confrontations in the Middle East.

The two leaders talked over the phone on Tuesday as tensions are rising in the region due to a purported Israeli strike on Iran's embassy in Syria and Iran's retaliatory attack.

The Kremlin says Putin expressed hope that "all sides will exercise sensible restraint and will not allow a new round of confrontation that may be fraught with disastrous consequences for the entire region."

It also says Raisi responded that Iran's actions "had been forced and limited," adding that "Tehran is not interested in further escalation of tensions."

Russia has been strengthening military ties with Iran since it started the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.