Russia urges US not to attack Iran, warns world ‘millimetres' from nuclear calamity
Russia is telling the United States not to strike Iran because it would radically destabilise the Middle East, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday, and Moscow said Israeli strikes risked triggering a nuclear catastrophe.
Advertisement
Russia signed a strategic partnership with Iran in January and also has a relationship with Israel, although it has been strained by Moscow's war in Ukraine. A Russian offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict has not been taken up.
Ryabkov, speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in St. Petersburg, told Interfax news agency that Moscow was urging Washington to refrain from direct involvement.
'This would be a step that would radically destabilise the entire situation,' Interfax cited Ryabkov as saying, and criticising such 'speculative, conjectural options'.
The head of Russia's SVR foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, has said the situation between Iran and Israel is now critical, and foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure meant the world was 'millimetres' from catastrophe.
Advertisement
'Nuclear facilities are being struck,' she said, adding that the UN nuclear safety watchdog had already noted specific damage.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
How Israel-Iran conflict hardens North Korea's nuclear resolve
As missiles fly in the Middle East and the world's attention fixes on Israel vs Iran , the shock waves are being felt in Pyongyang – where North Korea 's leaders, ever watchful, see yet another reason to cling to their nuclear arsenal. Advertisement While views differ on precisely how Pyongyang is reading the escalating conflict, observers are united on one point: if there is ever to be a chance of drawing North Korea back to the table for denuclearisation talks, the diplomatic door must remain ajar. Since Israel launched its military campaign against Iran on June 13 , hardliners in the US Congress, Israeli officials and exiled Iranian dissidents have ramped up calls to topple Tehran's clerical leadership, arguing for the exploitation of internal unrest to unseat Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 's regime. But in Pyongyang, observers say the lesson is viewed through a singular prism: survival. 'North Korea has always pointed to the fate of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Iraq's Saddam Hussein as justification for never giving up its nuclear weapons,' said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University. It has learned a lesson; if you want to hold on to power, you never give up your nuclear weapons Koh Yu-hwan, professor of North Korean studies 'It has learned a lesson; if you want to hold on to power, you never give up your nuclear weapons,' he warned.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How Middle East conflict hardens North Korea's nuclear resolve
As missiles fly in the Middle East and the world's attention fixes on Israel vs Iran , the shock waves are being felt in Pyongyang – where North Korea 's leaders, ever watchful, see yet another reason to cling to their nuclear arsenal. While views differ on precisely how Pyongyang is reading the escalating conflict, observers are united on one point: if there is ever to be a chance of drawing North Korea back to the table for denuclearisation talks, the diplomatic door must remain ajar. Since Israel launched its military campaign against Iran on June 13 , hardliners in the US Congress, Israeli officials and exiled Iranian dissidents have ramped up calls to topple Tehran's clerical leadership, arguing for the exploitation of internal unrest to unseat Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei 's regime. But in Pyongyang, observers say the lesson is viewed through a singular prism: survival. 'North Korea has always pointed to the fate of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Iraq's Saddam Hussein as justification for never giving up its nuclear weapons,' said Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University. It has learned a lesson; if you want to hold on to power, you never give up your nuclear weapons Koh Yu-hwan, professor of North Korean studies 'It has learned a lesson; if you want to hold on to power, you never give up your nuclear weapons,' he warned.
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Will the US actively join Israel against Iran? Pentagon chief sidesteps Senate questions
As the world watched anxiously whether the Middle East descends into wider war and the US actively joins Israel against Iran , Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth sidestepped direct questions before Congress on Wednesday and otherwise declined to shed insights into the administration's plans. Advertisement The Pentagon chief told the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee that the final decision on what course America would take was in the hands of US President Donald Trump , describing his own role as furnishing the White House with options. In response to sharp questioning by Democratic senators, Hegseth chose not to detail whether those options included the use of 30,000-pound [13,608kg] GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, commonly known as 'bunker busters'. Israel has requested use of the bombs to disrupt nuclear enrichment facilities built at Fordow deep within an Iranian mountain. 'Any decisions on this matter are at the presidential level,' said Hegseth, a former Fox News host. 'My job … at all times is to make sure the president has options and is informed of what those options might be and … the ramifications of those options.' Advertisement The prospect of the American military entering the conflict, which has become the most consequential decision Trump faces so far in his second term, has the potential to abruptly change the balance of power in the Middle East while pulling the US into a conflict that puts the president at odds with many of his own political allies.
