Russia strongly condemned the United States on Wednesday for attacking Iran, accusing Washington of using a fabricated threat as a pretext to overthrow the country’s constitutional order.
Debris lies scattered in the aftermath of a strike on a police station, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 4, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the U.S. had exploited recent negotiations with Iran to disguise plans for regime change. “There is no doubt that the imaginary, invented Iranian threat… was merely a pretext for the implementation of a long-cherished plan to violently overthrow the constitutional order of a sovereign state… that Washington and Tel Aviv dislike,” Zakharova told reporters in Moscow.
The comments come in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, which began on Saturday and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the conflict. President Vladimir Putin has also condemned the killing, framing it as a cynical and targeted act.
A person rides on a scooter as smoke rises in the Fujairah oil industry zone following a fire caused by debris after interception of a drone by air defenses, according to the Fujairah media office, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky
Without directly naming U.S. President Donald Trump, Zakharova referred to his calls for Iranians to seize power from the clerical leadership, calling them “even more cynical and inhumane… when the West is literally ripping these hands from the Iranians.”
Russia’s statement underscores its strategic partnership with Iran and signals Moscow’s opposition to what it views as U.S.-led interference in Iran’s internal affairs, framing the strikes as part of a broader plan to destabilize the country rather than a legitimate military response.
