The longtime leader of Russia’s Communist Party warned Wednesday that the United States may be planning to attack Russia following its war with Iran.
“We will be next. Look at Trump’s strategy. China is first, we are second, Iran is third,” Gennady Zyuganov said during a session of the lower-house State Duma.
“We’ll be torn apart worse than Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya combined. Russia is the planet’s main storehouse, and that’s precisely why it is a prime target,” he said.
Zyuganov, who has led Russia’s Communist Party since its founding in 1993, said the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran laid bare what he described as the destructive imperial forces underpinning capitalism, and called on Russia to return to its Soviet legacy and pursue economic self-sufficiency.
“You can’t negotiate on the enemy’s terms. You can’t build an economy based on their blueprints. And you can’t trust their promises,” he said.
“The only response to rising challenges is to rely on our own strengths and achievements — a strong and self-sufficient economy, our successful Soviet experience and our Program of Victory,” Zyuganov added.
Russia, a close ally of Iran, has condemned the U.S.-Israeli attacks that began on Feb. 28 and which have so far left more than 1,300 civilians dead, according to Iranian authorities.
The Kremlin said last week that hostilities must stop immediately and that disputes surrounding Iran and the wider Middle East should be resolved through diplomatic means rather than military force.
