The alarm bells are (literally) sounding, as there are fears that we've been thrown into the midst of World War Three. Iran and Israel have been exchanging missile attacks, and with the former warning that there will be repercussions in the West if other forces intervene, there are fears that this could be the catalyst that triggers WWIII.
Many thought Russia would be instrumental in kicking off the next global conflict, and while that's still possible, one of Vladimir Putin's top generals claims the war has already begun. This isn't the first time it's been suggested that we're already in the middle of World War 3 without knowing, and with the Doomsday Clock sitting closer to midnight than ever before, many are preparing for the worst.
Israel's Operation Rising Lion has seen the country react to Iran's missile strikes, with 200 fighter jets hitting out at around 100 targets. Iran has again responded by sending 100 drones into Israeli territory, and while things are already tense, we're not quite at full WW3 level yet. As shared by the Mirror, security expert Professor Anthony Glees has warned about how this could be a 'blueprint' for how future conflicts could develop into WW3.
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The lecturer at the University of Buckingham outlined two scenarios that could pull Europe into a global conflict, saying: "First, that Iran hits back hard, is supported by its admittedly weakened proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis and what's left of Hamas, as well as its chums in the region and beyond."
Elsewhere, it's thought the likes of Putin, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un, and China's Xi Jinping might see a 'distracted' United States and seize the opportunity to act: "We recall that Putin is firing Shahed drones at Ukraine. Now is the time to pursue their own bugbears in Ukraine, South Korea and Taiwan."
Glees concluded: "Naturally we hope this won't happen. But if it does, I think what Israel has been doing since about 3am give us a blueprint for what could happen to us here in Europe."
Still, there's 'no doubt' that Europe's main enemy would be Russia under Putin, with him guessing the first form of attack would be an 'overwhelming' cyber attack: "It will not only knock out our digital communications networks. We hope the government networks which are far more secure will be resilient enough to withstand such an attack, but who knows.
"We know that the Israelis sent alarms to every single mobile phone user in Israel, warning them about the attack at 3am, including those who had switched off their phones, or put them on silent mode."
We've already seen the world respond, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer holding talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Donald Trump confirming US embassy staff have been moved out of Iraq. In the POTUS' own words: "They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we’ll see what happens. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. Very simple—we’re not going to allow that.”