'Pandora's Box': Russia Issues New Warning to Trump Over Iran

Russia has accused the U.S. of opening a Pandora's box with its strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and gambling with the "safety and well-being of humanity as a whole."

At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Sunday, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's ambassador to the U.N., said Washington had "yet again demonstrated its complete contempt for the position of the international community."

"Washington reasserted that, to further the interests of its Israeli ally, it's prepared not only to turn a blind eye to the killings of tens of thousands of Palestinian women, children, and older persons but also to gamble with the safety and well-being of humanity as a whole," Nebenzia said, referring to the war in Gaza.

"Through their actions, the U.S. has opened a Pandora's box. No one knows what new catastrophes and suffering it will bring," he continued.

Trump Strikes Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead on June 21 for the U.S. to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites, including the Fordow uranium enrichment plant buried deep in a mountain.

The strikes have brought the U.S. directly into Israel's ongoing conflict with Iran, and they threaten to plunge the region into all-out war. The U.S. has said its strikes were limited and targeted, and Trump has urged Iran back to diplomacy over its nuclear program.

Israel and the U.S. said they acted to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But Iran said it was not seeking to build a nuclear bomb and that its facilities were for nuclear energy.

Iran has vowed to respond forcefully, saying U.S. targets in the region are now legitimate as a consequence of the strikes.

It also warned of a regional war, and Iran's parliament has endorsed shutting the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for global oil and gas trade—though Iranian leadership has not made a final decision.

The spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces' command headquarters called Trump's strikes "futile," adding that they "broaden the scope of legitimate and diverse targets" for Iran—a clear threat to Americans in the Middle East—and "lay the groundwork for the expansion of war across the region."

"We assure you that, following this aggression, the hands of the clock will no longer turn in your favor," the spokesperson said.

He continued: "The warriors of Islam, in response to this crime, will carry out powerful and targeted operations that will inflict heavy, regretful, and unpredicted consequences upon you, god willing. Gambler Trump: You can start this war, but we will be the one to end it."

Iran 'Posed a Constant Menace'

Dorothy Shea, the acting U.S. ambassador to the U.N., told the Security Council meeting that the strikes had the "aim of dismantling Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and stopping the nuclear threat posed by the world's foremost state sponsor of terror."

"This operation sought to eliminate a long-standing but rapidly escalating source of global insecurity and to aid our ally Israel in our inherent right of collective self-defense consistent with the U.N. Charter," Shea said.

She continued: "For 40 years, the Iranian government has called for 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' and posed a constant menace to the peace and security of its neighbors, the United States, and the entire world.

"Iran has attacked Israel with hundreds of ballistic missiles and through terrorist proxies.

"For decades, Iran has been responsible for misery and countless deaths across the Middle East. Iran's government and its proxies have also killed numerous Americans, including American service members in Iraq and Afghanistan."