Russia has issued a strong warning to the United States against launching military strikes on Iran, cautioning that such actions would severely destabilize the Middle East. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday that Moscow is urging Washington to stay out of the escalating Israel-Iran conflict.
“This would be a step that would radically destabilise the entire situation,” Ryabkov told Interfax news agency, dismissing discussions of U.S. intervention as speculative and dangerous.
The warning comes amid intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran, with Moscow raising concerns over Israeli strikes near Iranian nuclear facilities. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the attacks brought the world “millimetres” from disaster.
“Nuclear facilities are being struck,” Zakharova told Reuters, referencing recent assessments by the UN nuclear watchdog. “Where is the world’s concern? Where are the environmentalists?” she asked, comparing the potential fallout to the Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Israel maintains its strikes are preemptive, aimed at stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Tehran, however, denies pursuing nuclear arms.
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Despite signing a 20-year strategic partnership with Iran in January, Russia has no military obligation to defend Tehran. Still, the Kremlin is deeply invested in the region and maintains diplomatic ties with both Iran and Israel, though relations with Tel Aviv have cooled since the Ukraine war.
President Vladimir Putin offered to mediate the Israel-Iran conflict in a recent phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump expressed openness initially but later renewed his demand for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Putin, already weakened by the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, sees potential strategic advantages from the current unrest. According to former Kremlin adviser Sergei Markov, a broader Middle East conflict could increase global oil prices, raise Chinese demand for Russian energy, and divert U.S. military focus from Ukraine.
