( MOSCOW ) – Russian state television commentators reacted to the outbreak of war between the United States, Israel and Iran with a mix of strategic calculation, scepticism towards Washington and calls for a harder line in Moscow’s foreign policy.
In a special broadcast on Solovyov Live, host Vladimir Solovyov opened by stating that the programme was dedicated to the war that had begun between the US, Israel and Iran. He said that from a Russian perspective the key question was not the fate of Iran but what the conflict meant for Russia. “Let the whole world burn,” he said rhetorically, adding that his concern was that the Russian Federation should prosper. He said his analysis would be based only on that viewpoint.
Solovyov urged viewers to consider the “geo energy” implications of the conflict and said it was necessary to understand what was happening. He recalled past comments by Donald Trump criticising Barack Obama, then US president, as weak and incapable of negotiations, suggesting that such criticism had centred on the risk of war with Iran.
The programme argued that there should be no trust in the United States and that negotiations were used to buy time and distract opponents from real plans. The US was described as acting like a predator waiting for its target to lose vigilance. The host said only nuclear weapons provided deterrence, and only if the opposing side believed they would be used.
The broadcast said strikes had hit Iranian air defence systems and that Iran was responding with waves of attacks, including an attempt to target at least one ship which remained afloat. Solovyov criticised Russian social media users for posting footage of strikes and called for tighter military censorship.
He said the war in the Middle East had already led Iran to close a key strait, affecting 90 per cent of oil supplies from the region. He predicted oil prices would rise and suggested the United States aimed to secure dominance as a supplier. Europe would suffer, he said, but Russia should focus on its own interests.
Solovyov proposed that Russian forces should draw lessons and consider redeployments, including air defence units deeper inside Russian territory. He warned that similar scenarios were being prepared against China and Russia, and claimed NATO had entered an era in which it resolved issues by force.
Dimitri Simes, president and founder of the Center for the National Interest, said reaction in the United States was predictable. He said Republicans largely supported the action, while many Democrats objected on procedural grounds, including the lack of congressional authorisation. He added that few prominent US figures had described the strikes as unprovoked aggression.
Simes said Russia would find it difficult to enter the conflict militarily while continuing its war against Ukraine. However, he suggested Moscow should reassess what it permitted itself to do in Ukraine and towards European states, which he described as participants in aggression against Russia.
He said Russia must act in line with its national security interests and not be guided by concerns about reactions in the European Union or at the United Nations General Assembly. He added that while actions must be carefully considered, Russia had tools to alter international dynamics in its favour.
The broadcast concluded with references to the collapse of the Soviet Union as a catastrophe and suggestions that its outcomes should not be treated as fixed. Simes argued that recent US actions had created political and psychological space for Russia’s commander in chief to take measures deemed necessary for the country’s security.
