Rishi Sunak has warned about the future of the world amid threats from Russia (Picture: AP / Shutterstock / Getty)

Rishi Sunak warned that the world is closer to a dangerous nuclear escalation ‘than at any point since the Cuban Missile Crisis’.

From Russia’s new offensive in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, to Israel’s assault on Palestine and China contemplating on following the Kremlin’s example in Taiwan, the danger of nuclear war is as immediate as ever.

In a speech on Monday, the prime minister prepared the nation for what it should expect.

Refusing to set a date for a general election, he said: ‘More will change in the next five years than the last 30.

‘I’m convinced that the next few years will be some of the most dangerous yet the most transformational that our country has ever known.’

The PM warned that ‘the dangers that threaten our country are real’ and ‘they are increasing in number’ amid wars in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Taking aim at Vladimir Putin, Sunak accused the president of ‘recklessness’ that is pushing the world closer to a nuclear escalation.

Will the UK go to war with Russia?

Russia’s war in Ukraine is fast approaching its 700th day, with its two-year anniversary taking place on 24 February.

While Ukraine’s army regained some territory in recent counteroffensives, the situation on the ground has remained much the same since Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Ukrainian forces have fought against Russia for almost two years. (Credits: REUTERS)

The Russian President plans to boost his country’s military with an additional 170,000 troops, according to reports – signalling Russia’s commitment to step up the conflict.

A leaked document from the German Ministry of Defence earlier this week laid out Russia’s plan to launch a spring offensive in Ukraine in February.

The report also warned that Russia could launch covert attacks on NATO territory as early as July this year.

What is Nato? ‘NATO’ stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The group was formed in 1949 and now has 31 members from Europe and North America. Each member country has pledged to protect each other if attacked. The current members are: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Sweden has submitted an application to join NATO.

There are already signs that Russia is prepared to breach NATO borders. In December, a Russian drone crater was discovered in a Romanian village.

A Russian assault on a NATO member could trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which means the country under attack would be entitled to help from other countries in the alliance.

The treaty says that member states would be required to take ‘such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force’.

There have been warnings that Putin could attack a NATO member (Picture: Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

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In this situation, the UK and other NATO members would not be obliged to declare war on Russia – although it remains a possibility.

It’s likely that the UK would at least deploy troops, alongside other NATO countries, in such a scenario.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO, which is why the UK did not go to war with Russia following the 2022 invasion.

The UK has pledged almost £12 billion in support to Ukraine, as well as supplying tanks and strike missiles and providing training to Ukrainian troops.

31 countries at signed up as NATO members (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently warned that ‘if Putin wins in Ukraine, he will not stop there’.

‘That is why Ukraine’s security is our security,’ he added.

Elsewhere, fears of a war with Russia are growing.

Sweden’s civil defence minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin in January told citizens to consider joining a ‘voluntary defence organisation’, as he warned that the risk of war was greater than at any time since World War Two.

Donald Trump, who is currently leading the race to become the Republican’s presidential nominee ahead of the US election in November, allegedly said he would not help the European Union if it came under attack.

What’s going on in the Middle East – and could it escalate?

International attention has been fixed on the Middle East since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, and Israel’s resulting bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

In response, the Houthis – a political militant group who control much of northern Yemen – kicked off a targeted campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.

The group said they are targeting Israeli-linked vessels in support of the Palestinian people.

Almost two months into the Houthi assaults, the UK and US launched military strikes on rebel targets on January 11.

Logistical hubs, air defence systems and weapons storage locations were hit by airstrikes, according to officials.

Corey Ranslem, CEO of maritime intelligence company Dryad Global, told Metro.co.uk that clashes between the US and the Houthis could continue in the coming weeks.

‘The US has put together the coalition, Prosperity Guardian, to counter the attacks within this region,’ the US Coast Guard veteran said.

‘This operation involves a number of countries and the priority is to provide air cover for commercial vessels operating within this region.’

The US and UK said the strikes were acts of ‘self-defence’ (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

US President Joe Biden warned that the US could retaliate further, saying: ‘We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behaviour along with our allies.’

Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has warned that the US stands ‘on the brink’ of WWIII after three American soldiers were killed in a drone strike in Jordan.

Republican US senators have been piling pressure on Joe Biden in the wake with one calling for ‘devastating retaliation across the Middle East’.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the actions of the Houthi rebels represented the ‘biggest attack on the Royal Navy for decades’.

He added that the UK launched strikes on two Houthi sites in ‘limited, necessary and proportionate self-defence’.

Yemenis recently trained by the Houthi movement hold their guns and chant slogans as they take part in an armed popular parade held in Sanaa’s Al-Sabeen Square (Picture: Getty Images)

The Houthis are fighting a Saudi Arabia-backed military coalition in Yemen’s civil war, which has been ongoing for almost a decade.

The UK, who sees Saudi Arabia as an ally, has supplied weapons to the Saudi-led side for seven years.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei opposes Israeli and American power in the Middle East. (Picture: KHAMENEI.IR/AFP via Getty Images)

However, despite its relationship with Saudi Arabia and strikes on Houthi forces, recent statements have made it clear that the UK wants to avoid war in the region.

In a joint statement from the US, the UK, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and South Korea said the ‘aim remains to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the Red Sea’.

The Houthis are backed by Iran, who support a number of groups across the Middle East as part of its ‘Axis of Resistance’.

What is Iran’s ‘Axis of Resistance’? The ‘Axis of Resistance’ is a military alliance made up of Islamist groups. Iran has built up the network over four decades as a way to oppose Israeli and American power in the Middle East. Hamas, the Palestinian group who have run Gaza since 2007, is a member of the alliance. Iran said that it was not informed of Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October before it happened, adding that it would not directly intervene in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Other members of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ include the Houthis, the Lebanese rebel group Hezbollah, and several militia groups in Iraq.

Iran launched attacks on Pakistan, Iraq and Syria in January.

The attacks in Pakistan reportedly killed two children.

Pakistan called the attack an ‘illegal act’ and an ‘unprovoked violation of its airspace by Iran’, hurling a volley of retaliatory missiles into Iran. Three women and four children were killed, according to officials.

Pakistan said it ‘fully respects’ Iran’s ‘sovereignty and territorial integrity’, but added that it carried out the strikes to ‘protect and defend its national security against all threats’.

Both countries believe the other is harbouring militant groups.

Iran said its strikes on Pakistan were aimed at Jaish al-Adl, a militant group that has carried out attacks in Iran, while Pakistan said it was targeting Baloch separatist groups inside Iran.

Last month, Iran launched a bombardment on Israel in response to Israel’s attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria on April 1, which killed 13 people.

Iran launched 170 explosive drones, 120 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said that 99% of the drones and missiles were intercepted.

US, British and French forces shot down the missiles alongside the IDF.

RAF fighter jets shot down a number of Iranian drones.

There were no fatalities, but a seven-year-old girl was severely injured.

Iran’s Chief of General Staff Gen Mohammad Bahgeri said that ‘the operation achieved its goal’.

He said that if Israel takes action against Iran, including on its embassy in Syria, it will strike back with a ‘bigger’ operation.

But Israel responded with a military operation of their own, launching a series of drones and missiles at the Iranian city of Isfahan, the centre of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Iran does not recognise Israel’s right to exist, and its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has previously called Israel a ‘cancerous tumour’.

The onslaught followed Israel’s targeting of an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria earlier this month.

Both states have waged a shadow waragainst each other for decades, but the strike over the weekend was the first direct Iranian military attack on Israeli soil.

Is China a threat to the UK?

Tensions between China and Taiwan have mounted in recent years.

Taiwan is an island nation 100 miles off the coast of China. The country has had many different rulers over the course of its history.

Taiwan recently re-elected anti-Chinese president for unprecented third term (Picture: REUTERS)

In the 17th century, it was controlled by the Chinese empire, before it was claimed by Japan in 1895.

When Japan lost World War Two, China regained power.

Today, Taiwan is self-governed, but it is neither officially independent from China nor united with it.

Many Taiwanese people want their country to be recognised as separate from China.

Earlier in January, Taiwanese voters elected Lai Ching-te as their new President.

Lai previously served as vice president of the Democratic Progressive Party, which rejects China’s territorial claims in Taiwan.

Xi Jinping wants Taiwan to be united with China. (Picture: NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)

China views Lai as a dangerous supporter of Taiwanese independence.

While Lai said that he had an ‘important responsibility to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits’, he also cautioned that he is ‘determined to safeguard Taiwan from threats and intimidation from China’.

Only 13 nations recognise Taiwan as a state.

Countries are reluctant to make such a declaration as doing so would threaten diplomatic ties with China.

While it does not recognise Taiwan as a state, the US is one of the country’s key allies. It’s made a legal commitment to provide Taiwan with weapons if it needs to defend itself.

Soldiers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Garrison stationed in the Macao Special Administrative Region stage military exercises (Picture: EPA)

The UK government has said it has no plans to recognise Taiwan as an independent state.

However, the relationship between the two countries has strengthened in recent years, with the UK sending its warships on operations through the Taiwan Strait.

Last year, a group of British MPs called on the government to give ‘as much help as possible’ to Taiwan to defend itself against China.

It’s unclear whether China really plans to ever invade Taiwan.

Speaking last year, former foreign secretary James Cleverly said that ‘no country could shield itself from the repercussions of a war in Taiwan’.

Is the UK prepared for war?

The UK spends around £50 billion a year on defence.

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Defence announced that 20,000 troops from the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air force will be deployed across Europe in the first half of 2024.

It is one of the largest NATO deployments since the Cold War.

Shapps said that ‘we must be prepared to deter our enemies’. (Picture: PA)

Defence secretary Grant Shapps announced that the government will spend around £13 billion on ‘next generation’ Dreadnought submarines, which carry Trident nuclear missiles.

‘If we are to defend our homeland, we must ensure our entire defence eco-system is ready,’ Shapps said.

Rishi Sunak added: ‘In dangerous times, we are investing in defence, hardening our critical infrastructure and building our alliances.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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Presidential Actions Text of a Letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate

Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)

On the night of June 21, 2025, at my direction, United States forces conducted a precision strike against three nuclear facilities in Iran used by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its nuclear weapons development program. The strike was taken to advance vital United States national interests, and in collective self-defense of our ally, Israel, by eliminating Iran’s nuclear program.

The strike was limited in scope and purpose. The United States discretely targeted three Iranian nuclear facilities. Iranian troops and other military facilities were not targeted. No United States ground forces were used in the strike, and the mission was planned and executed in a manner designed to minimize casualties, deter future attacks, and limit the risk of escalation.

I directed this military action consistent with my responsibility to protect United States citizens both at home and abroad as well as in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests. I acted pursuant to my constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive and pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct United States foreign relations. The United States took this necessary and proportionate action consistent with international law, and the United States stands ready to take further action, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats or attacks.

I am providing this report as part of my efforts to keep the Congress fully informed, consistent with the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93-148). I appreciate the support of the Congress in this action.

Sincerely,

DONALD J. TRUMP

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.

Senator Lindsey Graham is urging the Biden administration to blow parts of Iran “off the map.”

The South Carolina Republican said he told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin not to show “weakness” and make clear what the U.S. red lines for a retaliatory attack are.

“Without Iran there are no Houthis,” Graham told Fox News on Wednesday. “The Houthis are completely backed by Iran. I have been saying for six months now…hit Iran. They have oil fields out in the open, they have the Revolutionary Guard headquarters you can see from space. Blow it off the map.”

He continued: “If you really want to protect American soldiers, make it real to the ayatollah [that if] you attack a solider through a proxy, we’re coming after you.”

Senator Lindsey Graham is pictured on May 3 in Washington, D.C. Graham told Fox News this week that the Biden administration should “hit Iran.” Senator Lindsey Graham is pictured on May 3 in Washington, D.C. Graham told Fox News this week that the Biden administration should “hit Iran.” Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Graham’s comments follow attacks by Iran-backed militias on U.S. troops in the region, which have stepped up. There have been more than 100 attacks on troops in Iraq and Syria this year.

On Monday, one person was critically injured and two others hurt in a drone attack on a U.S. base in Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is linked to Kataib Hezbollah, said it was responsible. The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence describes Kataib Hezbollah as a group that “poses a high threat to US diplomatic and military personnel in Iraq and Syria” and “seeks to establish an Iran-aligned government in Iraq.”

On Wednesday, missiles were fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in the Red Sea, according to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).

Austin said “necessary and proportionate” attacks approved by President Joe Biden had been made against Kataib Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran in Iraq.

“In response to multiple attacks against coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, U.S. military forces conducted airstrikes against multiple facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq,” CENTCOM said Monday in a statement. “Earlier in the day, Iranian-sponsored Kataib Hezbollah terrorists and affiliated groups attacked coalition forces at Erbil, Iraq, resulting in several injuries.”

The drone attack comes amid fears that the war between Israel and Hamas, which followed the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, could spill over into the region. Hamas is backed by Tehran, and Iranian-supported groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq have launched attacks on Israel and its allies in support of the Palestinian militants.

Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and regional analyst, told Newsweek this month that the Iranian regime’s aggression “is bolstered by its assumption that the U.S. will not use the full force of its military power to counter Iran and its proxies.”

Graham said Biden and Austin are “failing our troops in the field,” despite the strikes.

“I admire him, he is a patriot, but he is not doing a good job protecting the soldiers,” Graham said, referring to Austin. “I asked him a couple of months ago: Is there a red line? Would you tell our enemies publicly that if you kill an American we are coming after you?”

Newsweek reached out to Austin’s office via email for comment.

Graham previously said he has “lost all confidence” in Austin on the situation in Gaza and the Middle East. In October, Austin was pressed by Graham on what the red line for an attack on Iran should be. Graham interrupted Austin’s response when he said “Iran should be held accountable” during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

Congress has tried but so far failed to rein in runaway presidential war powers associated with the “war on terror.”

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Twenty-two years after Congress gave former President George W. Bush the greenlight to use military force against Iraq, the Biden administration is citing the same 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to justify the most recent deadly U.S. airstrike in Iraq.

The January 4 drone strike on a vehicle in a security district of bustling Baghdad reportedly killed at least three members of the Iranian-backed Harakat al-Nujaba militia, which the U.S. accuses of coordinating attacks on U.S. personnel still stationed in the region. However, the Iraqi military claims the militia operates under the country’s official security apparatus known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, and a spokesman likened the drone strike to a “terrorist attack.”

Iraqi leaders are furious, and observers across the world worry the strike is a sign that unconditional U.S. support for Israel’s war on Gaza could spark a wider regional conflict involving various militias and Iranian-backed groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

From President Latif Rashid on down to virtually every member of Iraq’s parliament, Iraqi officials unequivocally condemned the U.S. strike, warning the U.S. not to use Iraq as a “proxy battleground.”

“This is a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and security,” said Rashid in a post to social media after the airstrike last week. “We also condemn the attacks on Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. Iraq must not and will not be turned into a proxy battleground.”

U.S. officials defended the strike in Baghdad as an act of self-defense to deter drone attacks that have caused little damage but reportedly injured about 60 U.S. personnel stationed in Iraq and Syria, calling the Iraqi government an “important and valued partner.”

Iraqi lawmakers voted in 2020 to expel remaining U.S. forces after a drone strike authorized by former President Donald Trump killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia leader, but the U.S. is still training and equipping Iraqi security forces, an effort U.S. taxpayers have funded for many years now. With the entire region on edge over the war in Palestine, this level of cooperation may be on the rocks.

“Priority must be given to dialogue as a means to defuse tensions and find common ground,” Rashid said.

In a memo to congressional leaders on Friday, President Joe Biden said he directed the strike — within the borders of a sovereign nation considered an ally and without authorization from Congress — under the authorization for the use of military force in Iraq, or AUMF, passed back in 2002. Biden also cited the 2001 AUMF that authorized the Bush administration to use force against the perpetrators of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The strike was “necessary and proportionate” and in accordance with international law, the president wrote, adding that the U.S. military “stands ready to take further action, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats or attacks.”

Anti-war and human rights groups have long pressured Congress to repeal both authorizations as a succession of presidents have used them to justify launching military operations in at least 10 countries without going to Congress first. Both AUMFs have been central to justifying presidential authority to wage the “war on terror” over the past two decades. Multiple bipartisan attempts at repealing the authorizations have failed.

Mike Merryman-Lotze, a policy director at the pro-peace American Friends Service Committee, said the January 4 strike emphasizes the need for a repeal of the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs.

“Since they were first passed, every administration has used the AUMFs to justify global military actions without discussion [or] debate and often against the wills of the governments of the countries where military actions occur,” Merryman-Lotze said in an email. “Actions like the Trump Administration’s assassination of General Soleimani – also justified through the 2002 AUMF – have brought the U.S. to the brink of war.”

The response from Congress has been more muted, but a significant faction of Democrats and a handful of isolationist Republicans have spent years trying to repeal the 2002 AUMF in order to rein in runaway presidential war powers associated with the U.S.-led war on terror that destabilized Afghanistan, Iraq, and much of the Middle East.

President Joe Biden, who backed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, previously said he supported bipartisan Senate legislation to repeal the 2002 AUMF that was reintroduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) in February, but that was before the Biden administration became a stalwart supporter of and supplier for Israel’s extremely deadly retaliatory strikes and invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. still has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and another 900 in Syria, ostensibly to help fight the remnants of the Islamic State, which temporarily carved out its own territory in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Syria’s civil war. It eventually suffered defeat in Iraq and Syria at the hands of an international coalition by 2019.

In response to the devastating war on the people of Gaza that followed the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, Iran proxy forces have reportedly launched dozens of drone attacks on U.S. positions in Iraq and Syria that have caused little damage to infrastructure but injured about 60 U.S. servicemembers and contractors, according to Voice of America.

“The U.S. should focus on securing a ceasefire in Gaza and ending the regional spread of conflict,” Merryman-Lotze said. “This attack moves us in the opposite direction.”

The House passed historic legislation in 2021 to repeal the 2002 AUMF for the use of military force in Iraq, and the Senate passed similar legislation in March to repeal both the 2002 AUMF and a 1991 measure authorizing the Gulf War.

Democrats lost control of the House in 2022. In October, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) announced the drafting of a new AUMF that would allow the U.S. military to target Iran-backed groups. McCaul said he hoped the legislation would not be necessary, but Congress should be prepared to respond as Israel’s war on Gaza threatens to spill across borders. So far, the bill has not been introduced, but peace groups warn that even considering such a bill could inflame tensions in an already volatile situation.

In addition to the U.S. strike in Baghdad and an Israeli strike that killed a Hamas leader in Lebanon last week, an apparent ISIS bombing killed dozens of people in Iran gathered at a memorial for the anniversary of General Soleimani’s assassination in 2020 by a U.S. drone strike on Iraqi territory.

Tanya Goudsouzian, an analyst for Responsible Statecraft, noted the U.S. drone strike on the militiamen in Baghdad came just one day after the four-year anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination turned to tragedy in Iran. It’s hard to imagine a worse time to assassinate a leader of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, Goudsouzian argued, and the unilateral drone strike ordered by Biden can only “intensify the risk to American diplomats, troops, and civilians in Iraq.”

“Emotions were already running high among Iraqis and Iranians, and this could easily be exploited,” Goudsouzian wrote. “Calls for revenge are resonating throughout the country, and it is hard to ignore the high probability that fresh retaliatory attacks will follow from Thursday’s strike.”

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