'I fear we are living through the outbreak of World War III' says former NATO commander
The ex-army general says he "cannot remember a more perilous moment in geopolitics in his lifetime"
A former NATO commander has expressed concerns that "World War III" could break out, as conflict between the US and Iran intensifies.
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Richard Shirreff, the former deputy supreme allied commander of NATO in Europe, said he “cannot remember a more perilous moment in geopolitics in his lifetime”.
The US military says it has struck around 1,700 targets since the conflict began on Saturday.
Writing in the Mail, Shirreff criticised US President Donald Trump over last June’s strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Read more: Starmer 'is not Winston Churchill', Trump rages in row over Britain's response to Iran war
At the time, Trump claimed online that “Monumental Damage was done to all Nuclear sites in Iran, as shown by satellite images. Obliteration is an accurate term!”
Yet, Shirreff has claimed that assessment was “clearly an error or a lie”, and accused the president of having now “embarked on a new and far more perilous scheme of regime change […] with no overarching strategy to bring it to an end”.
“Unlike last June’s surgical strikes,” he wrote, “there is a growing sense in the Western military community that the latest campaign has already spiralled out of control.”
He also expressed surprise at what he described as the ferocity of Iran’s response, saying it had “shocked even hardened observers”.
As of Wednesday, Tehran has launched attacks affecting at least 11 countries — including the United States indirectly via Kuwait and Britain indirectly through its base at Akrotiri in Cyprus.
Shirreff warned that if America were to get “sucked” into a ground war in the Middle East, both China and Russia would “waste no time” exploiting the situation.
In China, he predicted President Xi Jinping could “seize the opportunity to launch his longed-for invasion of Taiwan, perhaps as soon as 2027”.
Meanwhile, he claimed President Vladimir Putin would “only double down” on his war in Ukraine, as US weapons and attention become diverted away from Europe.
He wrote: “For all these reasons and more, I fear that future historians will look back at this week’s reckless attempt at ‘regime change from the skies’ as the final catalyst for a third world war.”
American and Israeli forces have continued to hit Iranian government, military and infrastructure sites, as the conflict spreads regionally.
Israel has also intensified bombardments in Lebanon, while Iranian retaliatory strikes in the Gulf have further escalated tensions.
A fire broke out near the US consulate in Dubai on Tuesday amid the latest wave of attacks.
The crisis has also triggered mass political debate in Washington, with opposition Democrats questioning Trump’s decision to launch strikes against Iran.
Shirreff warned: “Now the fate of the world depends on how quickly America can extricate itself from the messy and dangerous situation unfolding in the Middle East.
“Add war in Europe and war in Asia to war in the Middle East and that’s World War Three in anyone’s book — but this time, all the major powers would go into the conflict possessing weapons that could kill billions.
“The US and Israel launched these strikes to prevent nuclear proliferation. It would be the most terrible irony in history if that very action was the trigger for a nuclear war that destroyed civilisation as we know it.”