Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War

[Helvetic]

Pepe Escobar | Trump and the Cult of Death | June 18, 2025

Source: Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom youtube

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I82QO-gq0v0

[Helvetic]

Col. Douglas Macgregor | Iran’s Khamenei: "We Will Never Surrender" | June 18, 2025

Source: Danel Davis / Deep Dive youtube

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=xaJNDEbspKI

Description:

President Donald Trump made vague and contradictory statements about potential U.S. military action against Iran, suggesting Iran is already defeated and calling for its "unconditional surrender." He downplayed Iran’s defenses, claiming U.S. and Israeli forces have total air dominance. In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader firmly rejected any imposed peace or surrender, warning of serious consequences if the U.S. intervenes.

Col. Douglas Macgregor, a former Trump advisor, harshly criticized Trump’s view as delusional and uninformed, driven by misleading advice from the same establishment figures who misjudged the war in Ukraine. Macgregor argued that Iran is gaining strength while Israel is growing weaker under heavy missile fire. He warned that assuming Iran will collapse is dangerously naïve, and that U.S. involvement could backfire severely.

Macgregor accused the U.S. "three-branch system"—Congress, the military-industrial complex, and mainstream media—of spreading the same false optimism they used with Ukraine. He noted voices like Lindsey Graham and Jack Keane are pushing for limited airstrikes to neutralize Iran’s nuclear program, but Macgregor warned that the conflict is already a full-scale war. Iran, he said, now sees destroying Israel as essential to its own survival and will retaliate forcefully if the U.S. joins the fight.

[thirtythree]

Israeli media outlets have reported that the most recent wave of Iran’s missiles have rained down on three locations in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area and one spot in south of the city.

Thursday’s missile attack, which is believed to have been the heaviest strike since the beginning of Iran’s retaliatory operations, has killed three and wounded 30 so far, the Hebrew-language media reported.

https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2...oc-on-tel-aviv

[Helvetic]

Source: Defense Intelligence on X

Description:

🚨🇮🇷💥🇮🇱Chinese workers in Iraq capture a dramatic and “beautiful” scene as Iran’s missiles rain down toward Israel🔥

Phones out, eyes wide, and cheers in the air.

Description:

🚨⚡️ CRAZY FOOTAGE:

A Palestinian captured the full scene of missile strikes in Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv district.

Tel Aviv. Iron Dome fired dozens of interceptors but failed to stop them. The rockets exploded deep in the city, striking key Israeli military sites. 🤯💥

Description:

Impact in the Center of Tel Aviv, 07h12 am.

Description:

Tel Aviv after Iranian missile attack.

[Helvetic]

Source: Seyed Mohammad Marandi on X

Description:

Warning

Iran believes there is a strong possibility that the Zionist regime and its deep-state allies in the US will soon carry out a deadly false-flag operation.

[Bright Skies]

Thank you everyone for your contributions to the posts in this valuable thread. I wish I could 'thank' every one of them.

As the very excellent posts here focus on the political and military actions - a most useful rolling newsfeed, I wish to focus on the citizens of Iran who are now subject to aggression by the Zionist supremacist regime - a regime that Professor Jeffrey Sachs describes as "grotesque": https://youtu.be/iAi0uFQY_r8?t=1298

I am not Iranian but I have close Iranian contacts inside and outside of Iran - some of which I have known for years. (And even though I have Polish background, Iran is an important part of my family history journey as during WWII after my maternal grandfather's family were released from captivity from the Soviet gulags they travelled to Iran which provided the displaced Poles in the east a safe haven. My grandfather was a soldier in Anders' Army and a family friend was a doctor who ran the hospital in Tehran that cared for the Polish women and children.)

One of my ex-partners is also Iranian and I was able to somewhat experience living an Iranian lifestyle and immersed myself in the culture.

The views of the Iranian people are very diverse, especially in the West, many of which who wished to break free from the theocratic system imposed on them and experience social freedom. There are political Iranians and non-political Iranians, religious Iranians and non-religious Iranians, Persian Iranians and non-Persian Iranians etc.

Due to this diversity there are even some Iranian citizens that are excited about what is happening as it may bring about the end of the theocracy - even though innocent Iranian citizens are being killed.

Posted by Jaak (here)

As pointed out above Reza Pahlavi himself calls for the Iranian people to participate in an uprising. But this is going to end in more bloodshed - Iranians killing Iranians.

There are other Iranian citizens, those who live under sanctions* and even though they don't agree with the theocratic system imposed on them for the last ~45 years, now fully support their government in defending their nation against Zionist and US aggression.

Many Iranians also do not forget the terror imposed on the population by the Shah's CIA-backed SAVAK.

They do not wish to be slaves subservient to a foreign power again and have their country and their resources raped again - especially by a foreign power that openly engages in war crimes and genocide with impunity.

*As we know by now sanctions are purposefully designed to make the regular people's lives difficult so they will be compelled to rebel against their own government.

I have contacts in Tehran and they report to me their experience of being under bombardment. I have seen the damage to the apartment buildings and images of the dead Iranian civilians:




The Zionist supremacists do not care about harming innocent civilians and they have no qualms about obliterating an apartment block of civilians in order to assassinate one target.

This is no surprise since they regard anyone standing in their way as 'Amalek', a lesser form of life that deserves to be snuffed out. Look at Gaza.

Posted by Helvetic (here)
Pepe Escobar | Trump and the Cult of Death | June 18, 2025

Source: Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom youtube

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I82QO-gq0v0

Indeed what Pepe Escobar previously explained as pointed out by Bill Ryan is that this is now a hot war on BRICS:

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by thirtythree (here)
Great analysis by Pepe Escobar as usual

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=TTUpoY-vWA8

Yes, excellent from Pepe as always. He explained that in his view this is now a hot war on BRICS, and he's seriously worried about Israel's 'Samson option'. And (most interestingly), Nima told Pepe that Iran could have a nuclear weapon "in two weeks". Pepe was so surprised that he interrupted Nima, thinking that must be a mistake. But Nima said he had personal sources, and confirmed his statement.

A friend and colleague of mine who is certainly on the side of the 'Global South' (and who had the privilege to meet Pepe Escobar at a conference in Moscow late last year) stated to me yesterday in a private message:

Trump is a fool for being tricked into the Iran disaster - it will be his downfall.

My reply was:

Either he is a fool who keeps on being tricked or he is a willing participant and is fully aware of what he is doing. Afterall, his political donors are expecting him to carry out the job that they paid for. 💰

It's all looking very bleak at the moment.

I totally agree with seehas:

Posted by seehas (here)
What i dont understand in all this conflict - why is everyone talking about Trump? He is a hired actor nothing more and nothing less - the real issue is the Military Industrial Complex that is running the united states - the whole Trump, Biden, Democrat, Republican discussion is a giant distraction - Divide and Conquer at its finest.

In regards to this my post here describes the regression of certain segments of the alternative field right back into left-right politics.

In my opinion Trump was always a patriot appeasement program, a Trojan horse and a slave for MIGA rather than MAGA.

With the way things are panning out Lindsay Graham might as well be the US president at this point.

Am I now going to be accused of 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' by the Trumptards for daring to criticise their saviour? How anyone can still support him at this point is beyond me.

Anyway, back to focusing my post on the citizens of Iran.

Since the Zionist supremacist regime's aggression against Iran has started it has been more difficult to maintain regular contact with my contacts within Iran due to the internet slowdowns and outages.

I also have an Iranian friend who lives in Baku in neighbouring Azerbaijan who since yesterday has not been able to contact her parents who live in Iran:

Voice call
No answer

Voice call
No answer

Voice call
No answer

Voice call
No answer

She sent me this late last night whilst I was consoling her:



The rough translation from Farsi reads:

"More terrifying than the sound of missiles is when our loved ones go offline."

Those words are very profound and reflect the reality of the situation.



God bless Iran and the Iranian people.

[grapevine]

The quote from your friend in Baku is so poignantly true and should be added to the Great Quotes thread.

And the rest of your post is both heartfelt and sobering. Every day I look in to the war threads (doom scrolling they call it) and there seems little hope of a solution. Nevertheless what we can do as bystanders is to bear witness and when history becomes "fact" we will know what really happened and what happens in all wars which serves to make monsters out of leaders and martyrs of us all.

Thank you for posting Bright Skies

[Tintin]

Clarification here on the missile strike by/next the hospital in Tel Aviv (Jaffa)

"“The primary target of the attack was the large headquarters of the IDF’s C4I and Military Intelligence base located in the “Gav-Yam” high-tech park, adjacent to the hospital.”

-> Israel is using the hospital as a human shield?

The powerful Iranian missile struck the Israeli military facility near the Soroka hospital in Be'er Sheva.

The blast wave blew off the roof of one of the hospital buildings, damaged the buildings and blew out all the glass.

Source: Lord Bebo on X



-----

Re-posting from #8600:

"Israel isn’t a state with an army. It’s an army with a state. The claim that Israel "hides military bases among civilians" is an extreme understatement. The reality is far more sinister: Israel is not a normal country with civilian governance, but a militarized occupation masquerading as one — it itself is a sprawling military base with ‘civilian zones’ artificially embedded to support the occupation and protect the regime. Imagine a U.S. military base with an elementary school placed inside to deter attacks: this reflects Israel's approach, scaled up over decades.

In most nations, governments exist to serve their people. In Israel, the people serve the military. Over 75 years of occupation, Israel has methodically embedded its civilian infrastructure within a sprawling network of military installations — not the other way around. The IOF’s headquarters in central ‘Tel Aviv’, surrounded by high-rises and cafes, is not an exception but the rule.

The accusation of "human shields" hurled at Palestinians is pure projection. Every Israeli settler in occupied territory is, by Israel’s own logic too, a human shield. Israeli "civilian" towns in the West Bank are not organic communities but strategically placed forward bases, designed to fracture Palestinian continuity and secure territorial control."

[Tintin]

Extract from: From the Yeast of the Pharisees (Come the Lies & Crimes of Zionism): Part One: The Aristocrats of the World - Greg Maybury (2021)

Avalon library link:

[Douglas] Reed (writing between 1949 - 1956) gives us a strong hint herein. After declaring that [T]he use of the name "Israel" by the Zionist state created in Palestine [in 1948]...is ‘ in the nature of a forgery’, he added:

‘Some strong reason must have dictated the use of the name of a people who were not Jews and would have none of the creed which has become Judaism. One tenable theory suggests itself. The Zionist state was set up with the connivance of the great nations of the West, which is also the area of Christendom. The calculation may have been that these peoples would be comforted in their consciences if they could be led to believe...they were fulfilling Biblical prophecy and God's promise to "Israel", at whatever cost in the "destruction" of innocent peoples… If that was the motive for the misuse of the name "Israel", the expedient may for the time being have been successful; the multitude was ever easily "persuaded". However, truth will out in the long run... If the Zionist state of 1948 could lay claim to any name whatever taken from far antiquity, this could only be "Judah ".’ [Emphasis added.]

-------

Much of which of course is already known to many of us here more familiar with the history, but this serves as a helpful reminder.

[Tintin]

Posted by Bright Skies (here)
Thank you everyone for your contributions to the posts in this valuable thread. I wish I could 'thank' every one of them.

As the very excellent posts here focus on the political and military actions - a most useful rolling newsfeed, I wish to focus on the citizens of Iran who are now subject to aggression by the Zionist supremacist regime - a regime that Professor Jeffrey Sachs describes as "grotesque": https://youtu.be/iAi0uFQY_r8?t=1298

I am not Iranian but I have close Iranian contacts inside and outside of Iran - some of which I have known for years. (And even though I have Polish background, Iran is an important part of my family history journey as during WWII after my maternal grandfather's family were released from captivity from the Soviet gulags they travelled to Iran which provided the displaced Poles in the east a safe haven. My grandfather was a soldier in Anders' Army and a family friend was a doctor who ran the hospital in Tehran that cared for the Polish women and children.)

One of my ex-partners is also Iranian and I was able to somewhat experience living an Iranian lifestyle and immersed myself in the culture.

The views of the Iranian people are very diverse, especially in the West, many of which who wished to break free from the theocratic system imposed on them and experience social freedom. There are political Iranians and non-political Iranians, religious Iranians and non-religious Iranians, Persian Iranians and non-Persian Iranians etc.

Due to this diversity there are even some Iranian citizens that are excited about what is happening as it may bring about the end of the theocracy - even though innocent Iranian citizens are being killed.

Posted by Jaak (here)

As pointed out above Reza Pahlavi himself calls for the Iranian people to participate in an uprising. But this is going to end in more bloodshed - Iranians killing Iranians.

There are other Iranian citizens, those who live under sanctions* and even though they don't agree with the theocratic system imposed on them for the last ~45 years, now fully support their government in defending their nation against Zionist and US aggression.

Many Iranians also do not forget the terror imposed on the population by the Shah's CIA-backed SAVAK.

They do not wish to be slaves subservient to a foreign power again and have their country and their resources raped again - especially by a foreign power that openly engages in war crimes and genocide with impunity.

*As we know by now sanctions are purposefully designed to make the regular people's lives difficult so they will be compelled to rebel against their own government.

I have contacts in Tehran and they report to me their experience of being under bombardment. I have seen the damage to the apartment buildings and images of the dead Iranian civilians:

Attachment 55337
Attachment 55336

The Zionist supremacists do not care about harming innocent civilians and they have no qualms about obliterating an apartment block of civilians in order to assassinate one target.

This is no surprise since they regard anyone standing in their way as 'Amalek', a lesser form of life that deserves to be snuffed out. Look at Gaza.

Posted by Helvetic (here)
Pepe Escobar | Trump and the Cult of Death | June 18, 2025

Source: Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom youtube

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I82QO-gq0v0

Indeed what Pepe Escobar previously explained as pointed out by Bill Ryan is that this is now a hot war on BRICS:

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by thirtythree (here)
Great analysis by Pepe Escobar as usual

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=TTUpoY-vWA8

Yes, excellent from Pepe as always. He explained that in his view this is now a hot war on BRICS, and he's seriously worried about Israel's 'Samson option'. And (most interestingly), Nima told Pepe that Iran could have a nuclear weapon "in two weeks". Pepe was so surprised that he interrupted Nima, thinking that must be a mistake. But Nima said he had personal sources, and confirmed his statement.

A friend and colleague of mine who is certainly on the side of the 'Global South' (and who had the privilege to meet Pepe Escobar at a conference in Moscow late last year) stated to me yesterday in a private message:

Trump is a fool for being tricked into the Iran disaster - it will be his downfall.

My reply was:

Either he is a fool who keeps on being tricked or he is a willing participant and is fully aware of what he is doing. Afterall, his political donors are expecting him to carry out the job that they paid for. 💰

It's all looking very bleak at the moment.

I totally agree with seehas:

Posted by seehas (here)
What i dont understand in all this conflict - why is everyone talking about Trump? He is a hired actor nothing more and nothing less - the real issue is the Military Industrial Complex that is running the united states - the whole Trump, Biden, Democrat, Republican discussion is a giant distraction - Divide and Conquer at its finest.

In regards to this my post here describes the regression of certain segments of the alternative field right back into left-right politics.

In my opinion Trump was always a patriot appeasement program, a Trojan horse and a slave for MIGA rather than MAGA.

With the way things are panning out Lindsay Graham might as well be the US president at this point.

Am I now going to be accused of 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' by the Trumptards for daring to criticise their saviour? How anyone can still support him at this point is beyond me.

Anyway, back to focusing my post on the citizens of Iran.

Since the Zionist supremacist regime's aggression against Iran has started it has been more difficult to maintain regular contact with my contacts within Iran due to the internet slowdowns and outages.

I also have an Iranian friend who lives in Baku in neighbouring Azerbaijan who since yesterday has not been able to contact her parents who live in Iran:

Voice call
No answer

Voice call
No answer

Voice call
No answer

Voice call
No answer

She sent me this late last night whilst I was consoling her:

Attachment 55339

The rough translation from Farsi reads:

"More terrifying than the sound of missiles is when our loved ones go offline."

Those words are very profound and reflect the reality of the situation.

Attachment 55338

God bless Iran and the Iranian people.

What a fantastic and moving post - thanks ever so much for sharing that; it may not have been very easy to do

[SilentFeathers]

Posted by shaberon (here)

Sense of delusional irony?

I'm sure I'm not going to win a popularity contest with this post, but so be it.....


Isn't a Sense of delusional irony also this????

Russia attacks Ukraine; The US must get fully involved and join Ukraine and destroy Putin and Russia.

Iran through it's well known proxies attacks Israel; The US must NOT get involved what so ever.


This is exactly what we've heard from many of these experts, analysts, and politicians. Perhaps it's not delusional, perhaps it's just simply insanity.

[Bright Skies]

Posted by grapevine (here)
The quote from your friend in Baku is so poignantly true and should be added to the Great Quotes thread.

And the rest of your post is both heartfelt and sobering. Every day I look in to the war threads (doom scrolling they call it) and there seems little hope of a solution. Nevertheless what we can do as bystanders is to bear witness and when history becomes "fact" we will know what really happened and what happens in all wars which serves to make monsters out of leaders and martyrs of us all.

Thank you for posting Bright Skies

Posted by Tintin (here)
What a fantastic and moving post - thanks ever so much for sharing that; it may not have been very easy to do

Thank you very much grapevine and Tintin.

I was compelled to share what my friend is currently experiencing - and no doubt many are experiencing this too. These are regular folk and certainly not fervent supporters of the mullahs.

I am actually communicating with my friend simultaneously as I type here too.

Still no contact from her "Maman joonam" (mother) and "Baba joon" (father) for 24 hours now.

Since Friday they had been contacting each other multiple times a day.

Another contact of mine in Tehran reported that the internet connection had been intermittent since Friday and I haven't heard back from them since Tuesday now. One of their messages was: "The sound was so bad."

The Israeli citizens, who are now held hostage by the chain of events that Netanyahu triggered, are also experiencing the same. And I actually did have contacts in Israel that I used to correspond with at one stage.

One of the probable reasons for the internet outage in Iran is there are those who are attempting to plot internal strife (since they have now been given the 'green light' to foment an uprising) and the Iranian authorities wish to pull the plug on their communications.

And Ravenlocke's post here details the Zionists are also interfering with television in Iran and showing "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi" (Women, Life, Freedom) videos.

Literally only a few minutes ago I have just heard back from a close Iranian contact here in Perth. They are despondent as they to can no longer contact anyone in Iran. One of the last reports they received from their family is that their bank accounts with Bank Sepah have been hacked.

Suspected Israeli hackers claim to destroy data at Iran's Bank Sepah
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle...ah-2025-06-17/

This is the first I have heard of this. No doubt the work of Unit 8200 or a group linked to it.

[Helvetic]

Seyed Mohammad Marandi | Iran Prepares for War with America | June 19, 2025

Source: Glenn Diesen youtube

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=KKk2PoHtk4Y

Description:

Seyed Mohammad Marandi is a professor at Tehran University and a former advisor to Iran's Nuclear Negotiation Team. Prof.

Marandi discusses the US preparations to enter the war directly, and Iran's preparations to fight the US. Trump will only accept Iran's surrender, yet he does not appear to have the means to achieve this objective. What will happen if US strikes are ineffective and US military assets in the region are attacked? The only path forward now is reckless escalation.

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bright Skies (here)

Posted by Helvetic (here)
Pepe Escobar | Trump and the Cult of Death | June 18, 2025

Source: Judge Napolitano - Judging Freedom youtube

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I82QO-gq0v0

Indeed what Pepe Escobar previously explained as pointed out by Bill Ryan is that this is now a hot war on BRICS:

Yes, Pepe is sure of this. In his brief interview, which is packed with information he's aware of personally from his current position attending the major international SPIEF event in St Petersburg. (Putin is attending this also, and today or tomorrow will be answering questions in a long press conference.)

Pepe explained the following. Everything here is important.

• One of the key objectives of this war is to not allow Iran to be transformed and enhanced as a logistics hub in the middle of Eurasia. The west has to prevent Eurasia integration connectivity corridors logistics, the international north-south transportation corridor. If you look at the map, Iran is at the center of everything.

• It was Russian technicians who so quickly fixed the Iranian missile defense blackout after the surprise Israeli cyberattack on their systems.

• The DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) is going to sign 10 deals with China tomorrow morning (meaning today, Thursday 19 June) in St Petersburg. The Chinese will start to invest directly in Donbas. This is enormous.

• Judge Napolitano asked Pepe the obvious question, about whether (or to what extent) Russia would step in to aid Iran directly. Pepe answered:
  
  This is an immensely complex and very sensitive discussion to have in Moscow and in St Petersburg. I'm going to try to force it a little bit more tomorrow and Friday. But my interlocutors say: "Look, you cannot ask these questions, and you won't get a public answer." (BR comment: this means, of course, that the answer about Russian intervention or assistance is not 'No'.)

• There are Pakistani trucks with Chinese hardware crossing Balochistan (in SW Pakistan) into Iran.

• Napolitano asked whether the Pakistanis would help defend Iran by attacking Israel. Pepe answered:
  
  They already offered help. But a very important element of this is that the Persians are extremely proud. Basically they are saying: "We can do this by ourselves. If we need you we will call you."
  
  This is what they told essentially Beijing and Moscow. And we had confirmation of that from the Iranian side and from the Russian side, their silence basically saying "Yes, that's correct."

[Kryztian]

There is a great historical project for psychologists and sociologists to study the mind and moral conscience of the average Israeli in the early 21st century and the justifications that they continually come up with for genocide. Yes, some of them don't have the right to marry if one of them is Jewish, the right to immigration (for non Jews), the freedom to own land that your ancestors had for centuries, the right to access electricity and water, and now, the right to have a roof over your head, to have food, to have hospital care, etc. But they do have at least one freedom the Middle Easterners don't have:



Found this on Facebook and some of the comments were hilarious, but a bit too off-color to print here: https://www.facebook.com/CentristCha...GsT7vJSDas3XTl

[Bill Ryan]

Copying this important update from Helvetic on his thread:

~~~

Source: RussiaNews on X

Description:

🚨🚨⚡ President vladimir Putin drops the truth bomb:

“Iran fulfilled the deal. The U.S. tore it up.
Trump walked away—yet Europe demanded Iran stay loyal.

Why the hell should Iran comply with a deal the West abandoned?”

-: A brutal reminder of who really broke the agreement.

[ExomatrixTV]

• LIVE NEWS: Jeffrey Sachs EXPOSES Israel–U.S.–Iran War Plot: Shocking Claims Uncovered:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZcxoMekOEcE

Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs has launched a scathing critique of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, placing the blame squarely on Washington’s alliance with Israel’s far-right leadership. Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Sachs claimed that American interference—encouraged by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—has devastated the region. He cited covert operations like the CIA’s Timber Sycamore as catalysts behind the Syrian civil war and accused Israel of pushing for armed conflict with Iran after having allegedly promoted six previous wars.

[grapevine]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Copying this important update from Helvetic on his thread:

~~~

Source: RussiaNews on X

Description:

🚨🚨⚡ President vladimir Putin drops the truth bomb:

“Iran fulfilled the deal. The U.S. tore it up.
Trump walked away—yet Europe demanded Iran stay loyal.

Why the hell should Iran comply with a deal the West abandoned?”

-: A brutal reminder of who really broke the agreement.

Did Putin really refer to Trump as the "former President" or is this just a typo/mistake?

[grapevine]

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER: How ‘peacemaker’ Trump capitulated to the warmongers

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=74vxPu8ls-s

(19:06)
George Galloway gives scathing opinion on Trump and the recent disrespect he has shown for the top tier in his administration/support. He also posits that at this moment US MOABs are waiting in Saudi

[Helvetic]

Source: tass.com

June 19, 2025

Russia warns US against interfering in military actions against Iran — MFA

Maria Zakharova said that it would be an extremely dangerous step with unpredictable negative consequences

ST. PETERSBURG, June 19. /TASS/. Moscow warns Washington against interfering in military actions against Iran, as this is fraught with uncontrollable consequences, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"We would like to especially warn Washington against military intervention in the situation, which would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences," she said.

Zakharova emphasized that Russia is actively engaged in political and diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel. "The priority today is to halt the escalation of violence, achieve a ceasefire, and restore peace. These steps are crucial for creating the necessary conditions to bring the situation back to the negotiating table. We are committed to facilitating this process in every possible way," she stated.

Zakharova recalled that on the very first day of the conflict's intensification, Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged in telephone discussions with both the Prime Minister of Israel and the President of Iran. The following day, he spoke with his US counterpart, and subsequently held conversations with the leaders of Turkey and the UAE.

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also been active, communicating with the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and Oman. The current crisis in the Middle East was a topic of discussion in Lavrov's conversations with the Azerbaijani foreign minister, as well as during negotiations with Indonesia’s foreign minister. These dialogues are ongoing," Zakharova noted. "We hope that all parties recognize that there is no viable alternative to seeking mutually acceptable negotiated solutions to the problems at hand. Our support for a resolution concerning the Iranian nuclear program will always be grounded in international law, the principle of equal and indivisible security, and a balanced consideration of mutual interests."

She acknowledged Iran’s clear commitment to its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, as well as its willingness to reengage with the United States to explore potential solutions that address unwarranted suspicions regarding its nuclear activities, contingent on the cessation of Israeli attacks.

"Moscow fully endorses this position and firmly believes that a lasting resolution can only be realized through diplomacy and negotiations," Zakharova concluded.

Conflict escalation

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that the United States was preparing for a potential strike on Iran in the coming days, though there was uncertainty about whether plans might change. The Wall Street Journal revealed that on the evening of June 17, President Donald Trump informed his aides that he had approved a plan to attack Iran but had not yet issued the order, expecting Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi indicated that Iran was considering all options in response to the possibility of US involvement alongside Israel.

On June 13, Israel launched a military operation against Iran, prompting Tehran to carry out a retaliatory attack less than a day later. Over the following days, the two countries exchanged further strikes. Both sides reported casualties and damage to some facilities, acknowledging that their forces had been hit. The cycle of mutual strikes continues to escalate. Russia condemned Israel’s actions and expressed its willingness to mediate in efforts to resolve the conflict.