Moscow slams US Iran attack as fears of global fallout mount
Russia has warned that US President Donald Trump has “opened Pandora’s box” following an unprecedented airstrike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, intensifying fears of wider regional instability and possible terror repercussions for the UK and other Western allies.
In the early hours of Saturday, the US launched a high-risk military operation involving a squadron of B-2 stealth bombers, which infiltrated Iranian airspace undetected and dropped 14 ‘bunker-buster’ bombs on nuclear facilities. The operation, backed by over 125 aircraft and more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles, targeted three critical Iranian sites: Isfahan, Natanz, and Fordow—marking the most significant Western military intervention against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
President Trump described the strikes as a decisive success, boasting the mission had “taken the bomb right out of [Tehran’s] hands.” Wearing his signature MAGA cap, Trump monitored the operation from the White House Situation Room alongside Vice President JD Vance.
However, at an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting, Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia issued a stark warning. “No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering this will bring,” he declared, accusing Washington of rejecting diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear standoff. Nebenzia revealed that Russia had proposed mediation talks for a peaceful, mutually acceptable solution, but the US leadership showed “no interest in diplomacy today.”
“Unless we stop the escalation,” Nebenzia cautioned, “the Middle East will find itself on the verge of a large-scale conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire international security system. The world could face a nuclear disaster.”
As tensions escalated, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow for urgent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to coordinate a response to the US assault.
Meanwhile, Trump reignited calls for regime change in Tehran during crisis discussions with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday. Posting updates on his Truth Social platform, Trump argued the current Iranian regime is “unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN,” rhetorically asking, “Why wouldn’t there be a regime change?” Despite this, both Trump and Starmer urged Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to return to the negotiating table promptly.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, reacted defiantly on X (formerly Twitter). In a viral ten-point statement viewed over three million times, Medvedev declared the US strikes had backfired.
“Enrichment of nuclear material—and now we can say it outright, the future production of nuclear weapons—will continue,” he asserted, adding that Iran’s political system had not only survived but likely emerged stronger. Medvedev further claimed the strikes had unified the Iranian population, stating, “Iranians are rallying around the country’s spiritual leadership, including those who were previously indifferent or opposed to it.”
Medvedev, seen by some as a potential successor to Putin, framed the strikes as a strategic failure for Washington.
The operation has also triggered serious concerns that the UK and its allies could face retaliatory terror attacks by regime supporters. Heightened security measures are being considered across British and European cities as fears of escalation and asymmetric responses grow.
As images of the Iranian sites, including the heavily fortified Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, circulate globally, and military briefings showcase the operation’s timeline, questions remain over the long-term consequences of Trump’s decision to directly target Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
