MOSCOW: Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned that the escalating conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran could spiral into a global war, saying World War III “could erupt at any moment.”
Speaking to the Russian state news agency TASS, Medvedev said it would be premature to declare the start of a third world war formally.
However, he cautioned that the situation could rapidly deteriorate if US President Donald Trump continues what he described as a reckless course aimed at the overthrow of political regimes.
He emphasized that virtually any incident could catalyze a broader global conflict.
The conflict started by US and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend, which sparked retaliatory Iranian attacks across the region, showed no sign of abating as it entered its fourth day.
New strikes were reported Tuesday across the Middle East, including Israeli strikes on Lebanon and a drone attack on the US embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh.
Medvedev accused Washington of using diplomatic engagement as a pretext for military action.
“The peacekeeper is at it again. The talks with Iran were just a cover. Everyone knew that,” Medvedev wrote on social media, in an apparent reference to Trump.
“So who has more patience to wait for the enemy’s sorry end now? The US is just 249 years old. The Persian Empire was founded over 2500 years ago.”
“Let’s see what happens in 100 years or so…,” he added.
Israel has said it launched its operation to remove what it described as an existential threat posed by Iran’s leadership, while Trump announced that American forces began “major combat operations” aimed at “protecting the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”
Iran maintains that it is exercising its right to self-defence and has vowed to respond.
The strikes came amid ongoing talks over Iran’s nuclear programme under Oman’s mediation. A new round of negotiations in Geneva concluded days before the outbreak of hostilities.
Last June, the United States struck three Iranian nuclear facilities toward the end of a 12-day confrontation between Israel and Iran.
Medvedev’s warning underscores mounting international concern that the expanding confrontation could draw in additional powers and further destabilise the region.
