RUSSIA PERSPECTIVE

Moscow, May 18, 2026. Russian media closely follows the escalation around Iran, reading it above all as confirmation of a US maximum coercion strategy. Dominated by RT, it frames the conflict as a crisis entirely triggered by Washington and Tel Aviv, placing Tehran in a reactive victim position rather than an instigator.

Since February 28, when the US and Israel launched their campaign of airstrikes against Iran, the region has only known a fragile lull. The ceasefire established in early April did not put an end to the de facto hostilities: Washington maintains a naval blockade of Iranian ports announced by Trump on April 13, massively disrupting global trade. The Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 25% of the world's crude oil passes, remains under constant pressure, with oil prices having sharply risen since.

Trump's new threats - formulated on Truth Social with the phrase "The Clock is Ticking" and accompanied by an image evoking invasion or balkanization of Iran - have relaunched the tension this weekend. According to CNN, a national security meeting brought together Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday. The Pentagon would have prepared a list of targets including energy and infrastructure sites, while The New York Times reports that more intense strikes could occur as early as next week.

On the Iranian side, the response did not take long to come. Mohsen Rezaei, advisor to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, warned on state television that the Gulf of Oman could become the "cemetery" of the US fleet if the naval blockade continues. "The more they maintain the naval blockade, the more significant the damage to the global economy will be," he said, adding that Tehran would be justified in responding militarily to what he calls an act of war.

The most worrying incident of the weekend remains the drone attack on the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates. According to the UAE Defense Ministry, three drones entered from the western border; two were intercepted, the third hit a generator outside the inner perimeter, without radioactive contamination. Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi had previously accused the UAE of having "directly participated in the aggression" against Tehran - a position supported, according to RT, by a Wall Street Journal report mentioning clandestine Emirati strikes against Iran.