Vladimir Putin‘s hardline ally Dmitry Medvedev has warned the war with Iran risks triggering a nuclear conflict in the Middle East.

The former Russian president, now a senior security official, said Donald Trump had made a ‘gross’ strategic error in taking on Iran and warned the region’s ‘biggest war’ may still lie ahead.

He claimed Gulf states could now seek their own ‘nuclear shield’, sharply raising the risk of a wider conflict.

Medvedev said: ‘The likelihood of a nuclear conflict there, unfortunately, has increased as a result of this unprovoked, extremely dangerous war that the United States has started.’

He accused Washington and Israel of behaving like a ‘bull in a china shop’ and pushing the region towards catastrophe.

Medvedev, who served as Russia‘s president from 2008 to 2012, warned the consequences of a US ground operation would be disastrous.

He said: ‘Probably the biggest war in the Middle East could still be ahead.’

Medvedev added: ‘And then the Middle East will turn into a long-term….hotbed of instability, which could continue there for centuries.’

Those holding money or engaged in oil supply in the Middle East ‘need to think very hard about what to do next’, he said.

He spoke as Russia is accused of supplying Iran with battle-tested drones and intelligence on targeting in support of Tehran, a charge Moscow denies.

‘From a prosperous region, as a result of this behaviour of the United States together with Israel, which behaved like a bull in a china shop, something irreparable could happen,’ he claimed.

‘I think this is the price of a gross mistake, a strategic mistake of the White House.’

He warned ‘the consequences will be fatal – for all participants because getting involved in such a ground operation at a great distance from the very same United States of America, threatens with approximately the same consequences as what happened in Vietnam, when Washington got involved in a foreign country, located a thousand miles away, and for 10 years could not find a decent way out of this conflict.’

The US now faces ‘a very difficult situation here.

Read More: Kremlin warns Iran war risks sparking nuclear conflict in the Middle East