“Attempts to prepare and carry out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities are a very dangerous idea,” Lavrov said at a press conference on Russian Foreign Policy in 2012 in Moscow.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Russia has said it will scuttle any UN Security Council resolution which could be interpreted as allowing military action against Iran.

Last November, Netanyahu pledged to do everything to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb and threatened to deliver strikes on that country if he was re-elected for another term on January 22.

With 99 percent of the vote counted on Wednesday, Netanyahu had claimed victory for his bloc, albeit with a greatly-reduced majority. His Likud-Beitenu bloc, formed with the Likud and Yisrael-Beitenu parties, took 31 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last year Iran would defend itself should Israel take military action, and has also threatened to close the strategic Straits of Hormuz if attacked.