🇷🇺 Russia must stay ‘island of stability’ amid global chaos - Kremlin

📍 Russia must remain “an island of stability, prudence and wisdom” amid growing international turmoil, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media, answering a journalist’s questions about alleged Anglo-French plans to secretly give a nuclear weapon to Ukraine.

💬 “When there are so many systemic breakdowns around us, there must be at least one island of stability and reason,” Peskov said. “I am confident that this is the country led by President Putin. If we give in to the general chaos, it will not lead to anything good.”

He added that all relevant services are carrying out their duties.

🟠 The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) reported last week that the UK and France are preparing to smuggle nuclear weapons into Ukraine.

🟠 The agency said Kiev could demand better terms in ongoing peace talks if it had an atomic or so-called “dirty” bomb.

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🇮🇷⚔️🇺🇸🇮🇱 Iran declares holy war against Israel and US

Latest updates on the escalating situation in the Middle East:

🟠 Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei a declaration of war against Muslims by the US and Israel

🟠 Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani said Iran would deliver an unprecedented strike against the US and Israel

🟠 Iran reportedly used Fattah-2 hypersonic missiles for the first time in strikes on US bases in the Middle East

🟠 Iran urged Persian Gulf states to shut down American bases, warning it would target all facilities under US jurisdiction

🟠 Israeli military said it had destroyed most air defense systems in western and central Iran and eliminated 40 Iranian commanders

🟠 IDF reported that the Israeli Air Force continues to carry out strikes on leadership-linked targets in Tehran

🟠 UAE said it would not “stand idly by” during missile attacks

🟠 UAE airspace has been closed, dozens of flights canceled, and around 20,000 Russian tourists in the Emirates are facing disrupted departures

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🇮🇷⚔️🇮🇱Israel’s terror plans fail as Iran hits back with targeted strikes – analyst

Iran's Armed Forces “were not at all confused” by the US and Israeli strikes on their country, Iranian political scientist Emad Abshenas tells Sputnik.

💬 “The Iranian military immediately launched retaliatory attacks as they knew exactly where they wanted to strike thanks to a concrete and understandable plan of action,” he underscores.

He points to Israel’s botched plans to use terror tactics against many Iranian officials, stressing that “from a security standpoint, all necessary measures were taken to protect the Iranian authorities.”

Last but not least, ordinary Iranians quickly started to help the victims instead of running away, which was followed by them expressing joy over the Iranian military’s counterattacks, according to the pundit.

💬 “Some corrupt media outlets portrayed all this as celebrations over Iran being targeted, although the opposite was true: people rejoiced about the Iranian Armed Forces attacking Israeli and American bases,” the analyst wraps up.

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🇮🇷 Hormuz Strait: Iran’s strategic trump card for forcing enemies to the negotiating table

Iran is in an “existential confrontation” with the US and Israel, and restricting access to the Hormuz Strait – entry point to the oil-rich Persian Gulf region, is one of the “most powerful strategic cards” it holds, says Dr. Ali Mamouri, a former strategic communication advisor to Iraq’s prime minister.

💬 “Iran’s broader strategy appears to be buying time and raising the cost of the conflict, hoping to drag the United States into a prolonged and expensive confrontation that would generate domestic political pressure on President Trump to seek a ceasefire,” Mamouri told Sputnik.

“On the other side, Washington and Israel seem to be betting on internal collapse—expecting that military pressure might trigger protests, elite divisions, or defections within Iran’s security forces. So far, however, none of these internal fractures have appeared.”

💬 “A prolonged closure” of the Hormuz Strait would have a profound impact on the global economy, Mamouri says.

“A sustained disruption would likely trigger sharp spikes in global oil prices.” Beyond that, the import-heavy economies of Gulf countries, and oil import-dependent economies of Asia and Europe could descend into crises, shipping insurance premiums would surge, global supply chains wrecked, and inflation skyrocketing, “affecting everything from fuel prices to manufacturing and food supply.”

💬 “In this sense, a prolonged crisis in the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a domino effect across the global economy, combining energy shocks, trade disruptions and financial instability,” Mamouri stressed. “If Iran manages to maintain a sustained disruption, it could become a powerful bargaining tool to force negotiations and potentially halt the current military escalation.”

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🇺🇸 US doesn’t have enough missile interceptors for sustained war against Iran - analyst

💬 “The primary problem the US and its proxies in the region have is America’s own global overreach,” prolific geopolitical analyst Brian Berletic told Sputnik, commenting on reporting by Bloomberg that US missile interceptor stocks could run low “within days” if sustained Iranian retaliatory strikes continue.

🔹 Washington “is attempting to wage multiple wars and proxy wars of aggression spanning the globe from Latin America to Ukraine in Europe, Iran and Yemen in the Middle East while also building up forces for a confrontation with China in the Asia-Pacific,” the former Marine explained. “They simply do not have enough munitions to go around.”

💬 “It is difficult to say” just how long US and Israeli stockpiles will last at the current rate of usage (2-3 interceptors per missile), but the stocks were already “significantly depleted” even before the latest round of aggression began, with US strategy involving “more the moving around of existing stockpiles from around the globe than the production of additional munitions,” Berletic said.

🔹 After the June 2025 attacks, “the US clearly opted to pause the operations, use asymmetric methods to further cripple Iran economically, destabilize it politically, and undermine it militarily while shifting existing stockpiles of weapons and munitions from America’s many bases around the globe to launch another round of hostilities.”
Who pays for it all? “American taxpayers,” according to Berletic.

💬 “They pay for all of America’s oversea wars of aggression - not only in terms of tax dollars diverted for huge military expenditures, but also in terms of money not being available at home for the actual interests of the American people - including infrastructure, health care, and education.”

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🌏 Global reactions to the death of Iranian supreme leader

World leaders respond to the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US–Israeli attacks on Tehran:

🇷🇺 Russia: President Vladimir Putin conveyed condolences to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over Khamenei’s assassination

🇨🇳 China: Foreign Minister Wang Yi called the attack “unacceptable,” condemning what he called the “blatant killing of a sovereign leader” and warning the region could be pushed into a “dangerous abyss.” Beijing said the strikes violate international law and urged an immediate end to war.

🇰🇵 North Korea: Pyongyang labeled the US-Israeli attacks “illegal aggression” and a violation of Iran’s sovereignty, state media reported

🇵🇰 Pakistan: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended condolences to the Iranian people, calling the killing a violation of international rules and stressing that heads of state or government should not be targeted

🇮🇩 The Indonesian Ulema Muslim Clerical Council expressed its deepest condolences over Khamenei’s death and slammed US involvement in regional peace efforts, urging Indonesia to withdraw from the US-led ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan: President Ilham Aliyev sent a letter of condolence to Pezeshkian, expressing sorrow over the “tragic death” and highlighting Khamenei’s role in Iranian political and religious life. Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov also sent condolences in a call with his Iranian counterpart and voiced concern over regional escalation.

🇪🇺 European Union: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described Khamenei’s death as a “defining moment in Iran’s history,” saying the bloc is considering practical steps for de-escalation. She added that “what comes next is uncertain.”

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🇮🇷"We will continue the path with strength": Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addresses the nation after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's killing, as the Leadership Council activates constitutional transition

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🚨🇺🇸Trump has no plans for a large-scale ground invasion of Iran but expects an extended air and naval campaign - Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton to CBS

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🇮🇷Ayatollah Khamenei’s assassination would make the confrontation far more dangerous and complex — Iranian FM Araghchi to Al Jazeera

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🧐 What сould Iran's сlosure of Strait of Hormuz lead to?

🗣 It may have “unpredictable global energy and strategic implications, which could in turn accelerate efforts to immediately stop the war,” Jordanian economic expert Hossam Aiesh tells Sputnik.

Energy crisis on the horizon?

🔶 Aiesh recalls that 20% of global oil trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz, amounting to more than 20–21 million barrels per day. “Stopping even half of this volume would cause a catastrophic supply shortage on the global market,” he warns.

🔶 According to the expert, the current situation “could push crude oil prices above $100 per barrel, plunging the world into a deep energy crisis for which it is unprepared, despite attempts by OPEC+ to offset some of the losses."

🔶 He doesn’t rule out that amid the instability, gold prices may rise to “historic highs, while cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could lose ground as investors prefer real assets to digital ones.”

World on edge

💬 “The US is returning the world to a ‘zero point’ due to its unconditional support for Israel, which imposes additional heavy burdens on the global economy,” the expert concludes.

👉 As for Iran, it seeks “to establish new rules of engagement and restore confidence in its strategic capabilities in light of the exceptional situation caused by the death of the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] and several military commanders,” the pundit sums up.

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