Senior Russian official Dmitry Medvedev has issued one of Moscow’s starkest warnings yet over the escalating Middle East conflict, cautioning that a third world war could erupt at any moment and that any nuclear exchange it produced would dwarf the atomic bombings of Japan in 1945.
Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and is a close ally of Vladimir Putin, made the remarks in an interview with state news agency TASS, in which he also accused US President Donald Trump of making a “gross mistake” by authorising strikes on Iran. “By his decision, he put all Americans under potential attack,” Medvedev said, arguing that Khamenei had been the spiritual figurehead for approximately 300 million Shia Muslims worldwide and would now be regarded as a martyr.
When asked directly whether World War Three had already begun, Medvedev replied: “Formally, no, but if Trump continues his insane course of criminal regime change, it will undoubtedly begin. And any event could be the trigger. Any event.”
He went on to warn that Russia’s nuclear arsenal remained the ultimate deterrent, stating that in the event of a global conflict, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be child’s play in the sandbox.” He added that while the USA was “afraid of Russia”, there was “no magic cure for the actions of hardcore idiots and clinical bastards” among Western leaders.
Medvedev also suggested that Iran’s muted military response to the strikes should not be interpreted as weakness. “The fact that the Iranians haven’t responded too seriously yet means that they don’t have many options. But they know how to wait, this is an ancient civilisation,” he said. He further warned that the killing of Khamenei would accelerate Iran’s ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons. “Now there’s no doubt that Iran will strive with redoubled energy to acquire nuclear weapons,” he said.
His remarks were echoed at the highest levels of the Russian state. President Vladimir Putin separately condemned the US-Israeli strikes as a “cynical violation” of international law and human morality, sending a note of condolence to Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian over the deaths of Khamenei and several members of his family in the attack. Putin was joined in his condemnation by China and North Korea, with all three governments aligning publicly against the strikes.
On the war in Ukraine, Medvedev said that peace negotiations were secondary to victory, stating that winning the conflict remained Moscow’s primary objective.
Medvedev previously served as Russian president between 2008 and 2012 and subsequently held the position of prime minister for eight years, making him one of modern Russia’s most prominent political figures alongside Putin himself.
