Tensions are growing in the midst of worrying threats by Iran against the United States and now specifically against former President Donald Trump. This time an Iranian state media published a meme reminding that the Persian regime is preparing to avenge the death of General Qasem Soleimani.
Tasnim News Agency, which follows to Tehran’s directives, was in charge of publishing a chilling graphic that appeared on Twitter and which also hints that former President Trump is the main target.
The image shows a lone Trump playing on a golf course and surrounded by an ocean, and above him a looming shadow of a bomber flying overhead.
The text accompanying the image states, “Revenge is inevitable” and adds, “Revenge must be taken on those who ordered the assassination of General Soleimani, as well as those who did it. And this revenge will certainly be taken at the right time; although, as dear friend said, Soleimani’s shoe is worth more than the head of his assassin.”
The tweet by the agency in charge of issuing the Persian regime’s ideological line was only shared in Farsi and was not repeated on the English account.
Hours after the tweet was published, the Iranian media decided to delete the publication after Twitter suspended one of the many accounts that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has on the social network.
This is not the first time that the Persian regime has issued a high-caliber threat against the United States; last January 6th Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which has been designated as a terrorist group, also threatened those officials who ordered Soleimaní’s assassination.
“We have said before and now we say it again, that defeat and revenge have begun, and that you will no longer be able to have peace of mind, even inside your homes,” said the commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, Soleimani’s successor.
The Iranian general threatened to “break the bones of Americans,” including President Donald Trump.
“They should know that they cannot kill the hero of the fight against terrorism in the region and then live comfortably,” Qaani said according to the official IRNA news agency.
Soleimani was killed in a U.S. bombing strike near Baghdad on January 3, 2020, and in retaliation, Iran attacked a week later with missiles at a military base in Iraq, where there was a U.S. troop presence.
“Because of the crime they committed, this time they will not get out from under the pressure they are in, and the followers of the Haj Qasem (Soleimani) school will first break the bones of the Americans, and then drive them out of the region,” he repeated.
Biden’s pro-Iran piece
Joe Biden’s government has not yet reacted to constant threats from the Iranian regime; however, some of its actions show the soft tone it will take on this national security problem.
On January 12th, it became known that Biden appointed William Burns to be head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who during the Obama era conducted secret talks to achieve the nuclear pact with Iran, and more recently condemned Soleimani’s death as a “major strategic setback.”
Biden’s plans vs. Iran’s plans
Iran recently announced that it had resumed uranium enrichment at a level of 20% purity, well beyond the limits set in the 2015 nuclear deal.
Iran currently enriches its uranium inventories to around 4.5%. The figure is above the 3.67% limit imposed by the 2015 pact with world powers. The Persian regime began breaching its obligations in 2019 in retaliation for the United States’ exit a year earlier from the pact and its reimposition of sanctions.
Iran’s move represents a challenge to Biden, who pledged to reinstate the deal after taking office on January 20th.
The Persian regime has repeatedly called on the U.S. to restore the deal from which Trump withdrew in 2018.
Joseph Humire, hemispheric security analyst and director of the Center for Free and Secure Society Studies told El American that “Iran is looking to rebound and sees in Biden an opportunity it can exploit to its advantage.”
The Trump Administration successfully managed to weaken the Iranian regime not only with sanctions, but with diplomacy, intelligence and military surgical operations. A situation that could change with Biden in the presidency.
“Right now what Biden has to understand is that there is no need to have talks with Iran, because now the cards are in the hands of the United States, when you have the upper hand you do not initiate the conversation.”
The analyst considers that, if returning to a nuclear agreement with Iran, the United States must set clear conditions, because if Biden loses the leverage achieved by Trump, he would be “condemning the Middle East to a very dangerous period.”
“It is very dangerous because the Arab countries have a sense of calm that Iran is no longer going to be a bother, and if these countries see that Biden is not going to take action, they will do it on their own and that worries me because even though these countries are allies many of them are not democratic either,” he added.
Humire recalled that when Iran entered into the agreement, it was Iran that set the conditions, as it conditioned it not to talk about human rights, terrorism or its missile programs. The specialist recalled that with the nuclear agreement promoted by the Obama Administration, Iran made progress in the area of terrorism and weapons. The analyst fears that the Persian regime will regain strength.
“The way that agreement was reached under Obama was very bad and irresponsible, with many loopholes, handing over many privileges to Iran and getting very little benefit and without any guarantees (…) If Biden would like to retake that agreement he has to do better than in the previous years, because the last one only led to more failures,” he stated.
Sabrina Martín Rondon is a Venezuelan journalist. Her source is politics and economics. She is a specialist in corporate communications and is committed to the task of dismantling the supposed benefits of socialism // Sabrina Martín Rondon es periodista venezolana. Su fuente es la política y economía. Es especialista en comunicaciones corporativas y se ha comprometido con la tarea de desmontar las supuestas bondades del socialismo