Top Kremlin official Dmitry Medvedev lashed out at U.S. President Donald Trump over the Iran war, mocking his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize, and lashing out at NATO for its response.
Turkey, a NATO ally, said on Wednesday it shot down a ballistic missile from Iran that was heading towards its airspace. The Iranian military has denied firing a missile at Turkey.
The incident threatened to spark another major escalation of the war in Iran, one that could have brought the full weight of the NATO defensive alliance into the already-widening conflict.
Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO, has said the invocation of the alliance’s Article 5—which obliges members to come to each other’s defense when under attack—was not in order over the “serious” incident involving Turkey.
“NATO’s nuts!” Medevdev, who is deputy to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Kremlin’s Security Council, and is himself a former president and prime minister of Russia, in a social media post on Thursday.
“First, the US kills Iran’s leader and starts a war in the Middle East. Next, NATO idiots led by Trump’s servile ‘sonny’ Rutte mull invoking Article 5.
“How about nominating POTUS for the Nobel Peace Prize for starting a major war, eh? Orwell was right: war is peace!”
NATO allies, including the U.K. and France, had said they would help to defend partners in the Middle East from Iranian attacks, and sent their own warships to the Middle East.
But they have so far declined to directly involve themselves in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
The Iranian regime was one of Russia’s key allies.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.Â
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