Senior Russian official says Trump has started new war on Iran that will strengthen Khamenei
MOSCOW (Reuters) -A senior Russian official said on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump had started a new war by attacking Iran that would only strengthen Tehran's leaders by consolidating society around Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Kremlin, which has a strategic partnership with Iran and also maintains close links to Israel, had repeatedly cautioned Washington that U.S. strikes on Iran would plunge the entire region into the "abyss".
"Trump, who came in as a peacemaker president, has started a new war for the U.S.," said Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, adding that "with this kind of success, Trump won't win the Nobel Peace Prize".
"Iran's political regime has been preserved, and it is highly likely that it has become stronger," Medvedev said. "The people are consolidating around the spiritual leadership, even those who did not sympathise with it."
Medvedev also said that Iran's nuclear infrastructure did not appear to be affected by the U.S. strikes, and that the U.S. was in danger of being drawn into a ground operation.
President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly offered to mediate between the United States and Iran, though the Kremlin chief last week refused to discuss the possibility that Israel and the United States would kill Khamenei.
Putin said that Israel had given Moscow assurances that Russian specialists helping to build two more reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran would not be hurt in air strikes.
Russia's foreign ministry strongly condemned the U.S. attacks which it said had undermined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The United Nations Security Council must respond, Moscow said.
"It is already obvious that a dangerous escalation has begun, fraught with further undermining of regional and global security," it said. "The risk of the conflict spreading in the Middle East, which is already gripped by multiple crises, has increased significantly."
While Moscow has bought weapons from Iran for its war in Ukraine and signed a 20-year strategic partnership deal with Tehran earlier this year, their relationship since the 16th century, when Muscovy officially established relations with the Persian Empire, has at times been troubled.
Inside Russia, there were calls for Russia to come to the aid of its partner and to supply Iran with the same support which Washington had given to Ukraine - including air defence systems, missiles and satellite intelligence.
"It's time for us to help Tehran," said Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev. "And at the same time, to offer the United States and Iran diplomatic assistance in peace negotiations by appointing a special envoy for this. Two can play at this game."
Jailed Russian nationalist Igor Girkin said that unless Russia supported Iran, the Islamic Republic would be bombed into the Stone Age by the United States and Israel and then plunged into chaos.
"If Iran does not receive the necessary support from its allies, Russia and China, and very serious and significant support, then, most likely, within a month, its enemies will achieve this," Girkin said on Telegram.
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CBS News
8 minutes ago
- CBS News
Rubio says U.S. is ready to meet with Iran after strikes, warns closing Strait of Hormuz would be "suicidal"
Rubio says U.S. is ready to meet with Iran after strikes, calls closing Strait of Hormuz "suicidal" Washington — The U.S. is ready to meet with Iran following the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday, while warning Iran that closing the crucial Strait of Hormuz would be a "suicidal" move for the regime. Rubio, appearing on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," urged Iran to pursue diplomacy after the U.S. carried out what the Pentagon called the largest B-2 operation in U.S. history in an effort to cripple Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Rubio said the U.S. has no current plans for further attacks on Iran unless "they mess around." Rubio said the U.S. mission "was not an attack on Iran, it was not an attack on the Iranian people. This wasn't a regime change move. This was designed to degrade and or destroy three nuclear sites." "What happens next will now depend on what Iran chooses to do next," Rubio said. "If they choose the path of diplomacy, we're ready. We can do a deal that's good for them, the Iranian people, and good for the world. If they choose another route, then there will be consequences for that." President Trump continues to prefer the path of diplomacy, Rubio said, noting that the U.S. pushed Iran to make a deal to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions before the strikes. "We're prepared, right now, if they call right now and say, 'We want to meet, let's talk about this,' we're prepared to do that," Rubio said. The question of how Iran will respond has raised fears that the regime could seek to block ships from traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical choke point between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that is used to transport about 20% of oil used around the world. Rubio declined to say whether the U.S. would take military action if Iran closes the strait, or whether the U.S. would consider attacks on oil facilities by Iran's proxy militias as direct acts by the regime: "I'm not going to take options away from the president, that's not something we're talking about right now in terms of being immediate." Rubio said closing the strait would affect the U.S., but it would have "a lot more impact on the rest of the world," particularly on China. "That would be a suicidal move on [Iran's] part, because I think the whole world would come against them if they did that," Rubio said. Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former head of U.S. Central Command and a CBS News contributor, said the U.S. would be able to clear the strait if Iran lined it with underwater mines. "The Iranians do have the capability to mine the Strait of Hormuz. We have very good plans to clear that if we had to do it. We work on those plans all the time," McKenzie told Brennan later in the show. "It would be a blow to world commerce, for a period of time, but at the end, the strait would be cleared, and I'm pretty confident the Iranian navy would all be sunk at the end of that operation." The U.S. operation on Saturday, which the Trump administration named "Operation Midnight Hammer," bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, causing what the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said was "extremely severe damage and destruction." The Pentagon acknowledged that capturing a complete assessment of the operation's effectiveness will take time. Brennan pressed Rubio on what specific intelligence pushed the president to make the decision to strike Iran. In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified before Congress that Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon, testimony Mr. Trump declared "wrong." Rubio said Iran, ahead of the strikes, had "everything they need to build nuclear weapons," and pointed to assessments by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA. "Here's what the whole world knows. Forget about intelligence," Rubio told Brennan. "What the IAEA knows, they are enriching uranium well beyond anything you need for a civil nuclear program. So why would you enrich uranium at 60% if you don't intend to use it to one day take it to 90 and build a weapon? Why are you developing ICBMs?" Brennan asked Rubio whether the U.S. will defend other nations in the Middle East if Iran launches attacks on their soil in response. Rubio said that's why U.S. bases — and about 40,000 U.S. troops — are positioned across the Middle East. "Well, that's exactly why they're there," he said, adding, "All those bases are there because they're afraid that Iran will attack them." Rubio insisted that the U.S. will defend Americans, including U.S. soldiers on military bases, from Iran and its proxies. "They'll attack us, is what they're threatening to do," he said. "So we'll defend our people, obviously. We'll defend our people. Well, they'll attack our bases. And those are our bases, and we're going to defend our personnel, and we're prepared to do that." Rubio said he didn't want to forecast what the U.S. might do if Iran retaliates. "There are no planned military operations right now against Iran unless they mess around and they attack Americans or American interests, then they're going to have a problem," he said. "Then they're going to have a problem, and I'm not going to broadcast what those problems are."
CBS News
9 minutes ago
- CBS News
Transcript: Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," June 22, 2025
The following is the transcript of an interview with GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on June 22, 2025. MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to "Face the Nation." Democrat Ro Khanna joins us from San Francisco, and here, in studio, is Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie. Good morning to both of you, gentlemen. I'll start with you, Congressman Massie, you know, I know this is an unlikely pairing. You are on completely different ends of the political spectrum, but you both worked on this war powers resolution to prohibit US forces from engaging in hostilities against Iran without authorization from Congress. President just blew right past that. CONGRESSMAN THOMAS MASSIE: Well, you know, I think I represent part of the coalition that elected President Trump. We were tired of endless wars in the Middle East, and tired of wars in East- Eastern Europe. And we were promised that we would put our veterans, our immigration policies, and our infrastructure first. And so what Ro and I did, we did this last week, when, you know, they were rattling the sabers. Because we saw this coming, we put forward this War Powers Resolution. I've teamed up with Ro Khanna before on this, to his credit, when Joe Biden was President; we tried to rein in the executive and reassert Congress's authority, sole authority, to declare war and to- and to engage or authorize the engagement of acts of war. MARGARET BRENNAN: Something we talked to other lawmakers about, as well, in the Senate, I know there's efforts to support you. But, the Speaker of the House, who is from your own party, has, really, rejected this. He says the Article I power of Congress, really, allows for the President to do this. It was a limited, necessary, targeted strike, he says. REP. MASSIE: Well, he's probably referring to the War Powers Act of 1973, but that's been misinterpreted. There were no imminent threat to the United States, which was what would authorize that. And I think that's peculiar to hear that from the Speaker of the House. Look, Congress was on vacation last week when all this was happening, MARGARET BRENNAN: You haven't been briefed. REP. MASSIE: We haven't been briefed. They should have called us all back. And, frankly, we should have debated this war powers resolution that Ro Khanna and I offered, instead of staying on vacation and doing fundraisers, and saying, oh, well, the President's got this under control, we're going to cede our constitutional authority. MARGARET BRENNAN: Ro Khanna- Congressman Khanna, and we didn't hear from the Secretary the explanation as to why now. We haven't heard that from anyone, other than a reference to the President had a, roughly, 60-day timeline on diplomatic talks, but we also know we had more talks scheduled when Israel launched this attack. So, it's just it's not exactly clear the emergency. You will be briefed along with other members of Congress Tuesday. What are the questions you have? CONGRESSMAN RO KHANNA: First of all, the tragedy in this country is that we keep entering these overseas wars. We triumphantly declare the mission is accomplished the day after, and then we're left with Americans bearing the consequences for decades. Now, Thomas is absolutely right, and showing courage. I mean, the headlines all across this country says the United States enters war with Iran. He is, actually, representing a lot of the people in the MAGA base. People like Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Theo Von, who has had them on, who's saying, we don't want this war. And I heard your interview with Secretary Rubio, he's saying, well, we want a peace deal. We want to make sure that Iran can enrich uranium through civil purposes. Well, we had that. We had that at the JCPOA, and there was not a single violation that the IEAE found during that time. So, my question, I guess, is, now you're going to force Iran to go covertly in developing this nuclear material. Now you put American troops at risk. Now you're wasting billions of our dollars because we're sending more troops to the Middle East. What did you accomplish? And why are you oblivious to the American people who are sick of these wars? MARGARET BRENNAN: But, Congressman, are you open to the idea that there could be intelligence that is disclosed to you in this classified setting on Tuesday that could justify this? Or, is any military action, in your view, you know, war? REP. RO KHANNA: Well, I'm always open to new intelligence. But, the procedure should have been that Congress was briefed before we decided to enter war, and that we actually had a vote on it. You had Tulsi Gabbard, who, just months ago, the Director of Intelligence, saying that was not the case. The reality is, and we should just speak openly, there are people who want regime change in Iran. And they are egging this president on to bomb. I hope cooler heads will prevail. We need to pass Thomas Massie and my War Powers Resolution to make it clear that we're not going to get further entrenched into the Middle East. MARGARET BRENNAN: And Congressman Massie, it's interesting because you were. Talking about a part of the party you represent. The Secretary of State comes from a different part of that same party, as you know. And I did hone in on the question about intelligence, and what it showed. He called it an ambition to weaponize. Weaponization ambition. That's different than they're making a nuclear weapon. REP. MASSIE: Yeah. MARGARET BRENNAN: But are you open to intelligence and persuasion here? REP. MASSIE: I'm open as well. But look, in the first Iraq war, the second Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan, Congress first got the briefings. Congress met and debated. It should have been declarations of war, but at least they did an authorization of use of military force. We haven't had that. This has been turned upside down- this process. MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you heard from Mitch McConnell, the former Republican leader, the senator, say it was a bad week for the isolationists. He was talking about Tucker Carlson and he was talking about Steve Bannon. Do you think that the President is making a choice here, or is he trying to have it both ways, both saying I'm going to please the Hawks of the party by bombing, but then I'm going to say I want a peace deal and make the isolationists happy by saying, you know, I'm not committing to anything more than one and done? REP. MASSIE: Well, I'll concede this. It was a good week for the neocons and the military-industrial complex, who want war all the time. I wouldn't call my side of the MAGA base, isolationists. We are- we are exhausted. We are tired from all of these wars, and we're non-interventionists. I mean, this is what- this was one of the promises. I mean, are you going to call President Trump's campaign an isolationist campaign? What he promised us was we would put America first. And I think there are still voices in this administration. You've still got JD Vance, you've still got Tulsi Gabbard, you still- RFK Jr, you still got calmer heads that could prevail. MARGARET BRENNAN: They were not persuasive in this case, clearly. REP. MASSIE: Well, somebody was persuasive. AIPAC is very persuasive, for instance. The Israeli lobby in Congress. If you- if you look at my colleagues feeds now this- they all look the same. They're all tweeting the same message that we've got to support Israel and we've got to do this. My question is, does- you know, three bombings and we're done with- with Iran's nuclear ambitions, is that the two weeks to slow the spread of 2025? Is this- you know, we were told two weeks to slow the spread then, now we're told it's just going to take three bombings. But what happens when Israel gets bombed again? Is Trump going to sit by and say, no, we're not going to further engage in this war? MARGARET BRENNAN: I tried to get answers from the Secretary on that question. But when you say the pro-Israel lobby, AIPAC, do you see a difference between Israel's interests and American interests? REP. MASSIE: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, look- the- Iran, the reality is, they don't have a missile that can reach the United States. They're not near to getting a missile that can reach the United States. I think this- what has happened, what has transpired this week has been planned for months. That- that you know this administration, and maybe even the administration prior to that, said, you go in and soften them up, take out their air defense capabilities, and then we'll send in the big bombers. MARGARET BRENNAN: So, Congressman Khanna, I know you have raised objections on this program in the past about Israel's operations in Gaza, for how it has conducted that war against Hamas. That was a different context, but now you very well may be asked to provide more weaponry to Israel to defend itself. Do you oppose that as well? REP. RO KHANNA: Well, first, let me just say that it's a totally unfair smear to call people isolationists, the vast majority of Americans who don't want more war and want diplomacy. Diplomacy and engagement is not isolationism. But look on Israel, I have supported aid and support defensively. And even the War Powers resolution says that if Iran is striking Israel, they- you- we can provide defense so that Israel isn't hit. What I opposed was giving Israel offensive weapons to go kill more people in Gaza. I think that war needs to end. But I think the bottom line, Margaret, is, what have we achieved here? We have- we're going to push Iran to now be like Pakistan or North Korea going and try to develop a nuclear bomb covertly. We have put more American troops at risk. We're going to spend more resources put- going and getting more entrenched in the Middle East, and we've created a generation of hate. It's like, can this country learn? We keep voting for people for president who say we're not going to get into war, and then they keep getting pushed by the Washington beltway to get us into this mess. MARGARET BRENNAN: Congressman Khanna, Congressman Massie, thank you. In a rare bipartisan meeting of the minds, at least on this issue, we'll be right back.
New York Post
10 minutes ago
- New York Post
Rubio warns Iran if it strikes back, it will be ‘worst mistake they ever made'
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said the US attacked Iran because it 'tried to play'' President Trump — and warned if it attempts to retaliate, it will be 'the worst mistake they ever made.'' 'That was an Iranian choice. We didn't make that choice,' Rubio told Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures.' Iran 'tried to play' Trump similar to how 'they've played every American president for the last 35 years,' Rubio said. 'They did by playing games with Donald Trump. They made a huge mistake. 4 Secretary of State Marco Rubio stresses Sunday that the US is not at war with Iran at the moment. FOX News 'If they retaliate, it will be the worst mistake they've ever made,' he said. 'Look, we can fly in and out of Iran at will. We went in last night. The president sent our military forces from halfway across the world, went in, conducted this operation, left and not a shot was fired against us.' Rubio noted that Trump wrote to Iran about two months ago giving Tehran 60 days to negotiate over its nuclear program. 'They use diplomacy to hide behind and obfuscate and think they can buy themselves time. They think they're cute, they're not cute, and they're not going to get away with this stuff, not under President Trump,' Rubio said. Iran has seethed at the attack on its nuclear sites — dubbed 'Operation Midnight Hammer' by the US — and vowed that America 'shall be held fully accountable,' without elaborating on specifics. 4 President Trump was warned Iran that there will be consequences if it retaliates. POOL/AFP via Getty Images Some analysts have speculated that Iran could fire off attacks against US bases or other military assets in the region. In 2020, Iran attacked the Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, where the US had troops stationed, in response to the killing of notorious Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani. But the Israelis have significantly degraded Iran's offensive and defensive capabilities since launching Operation Rising Lion against its enemy a little more than a week ago to take out its nuclear program. 'They are completely vulnerable, completely vulnerable,' Rubio said of Iran. 'They don't control their own airspace, they can't protect their own airspace. 'They can't even protect their own leaders,' he said. 'So I think it would be a big mistake if they did anything against us. But look, they'll have to make that decision.' One potential reprisal that many experts fear is that Iran could attempt to close the Straits of Hormuz, where an estimated 20% to 25% of the world's consumed oil flows. 4 The US deployed its famous B-2 stealth bombers to drop heavy-duty 'bunker-buster' bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities. 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs 'I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,' Rubio said. 'If [Iranian officials try to close the waterway], it will be another terrible mistake. It's economic suicide for them if they do it.' The secretary of state stressed that 'this is not a war against Iran' and denied the US is seeking regime change with its military campaign against the theocracy. 4 All eyes are on Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to see how the brutal regime will respond to the American attacks on its three nuclear facilities. via Getty Images 'That's certainly not the goal of what we're working on here, the goal, stated very clearly in a letter the president sent the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei],' the secretary of state said. Rubio also tore into Iran's troubled history, assessing that it's 'the sole source of instability in the entire Middle East, and the world's been paying a price for this for 40-something years. 'Imagine those people having a nuclear weapon, just one, just one nuclear weapon or even the capability to being on the threshold of having a nuclear weapon,' he warned. While several neighboring countries in the Middle East have condemned the strikes, Rubio claimed that 'privately, they all agree with us that this needed to be done.' He also suggested that European powers should consider slapping sanctions on Tehran.
