President Trump tweeted an all-caps threat at the Iranian regime that seemed to come out of nowhere.
To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
But the sudden escalation in tensions goes back to a warning to the U.S. from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, saying on Sunday, “Mr. Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret.”
He continued on to say that an American war with Iran would be the “mother of all wars.”
Well before Trump’s tweet, which didn’t offer any details into what Trump might do, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered remarks that gave a clearer picture of the administration’s policy towards Iran on Sunday night.
“There are times when things happen that are unexpected, unanticipated; our revolution would be one of them,”Pompeo said at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., to a gathering of Iranian-Americans. “We don’t know the right moment, we don’t know the day,” he continued, “but we do know the things that the world is obligated to do, so that when the right time comes — when the right moment comes — the opportunity is even more likely to find it’s fulfillment.”
This suggestion that Trump plans to help set the conditions for a successful revolution by the Iranian people against the Islamic Republic is the kind of regime change that we’ve seen before.
In 1953 through Operation Ajax, the U.S. and the U.K. orchestrated a coup d’etat to overthrow the democratically elected prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. The U.S.’ continued support of the Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, contributed to the rise of violent Islamist extremists who staged an uprising, triggering the 1979 Iranian revolution and the ensuing hostage crisis involving 52 American diplomats and citizens.
While there seemed to be a cooling of tensions through the signing of the Iranian nuclear deal in 2015 under President Barack Obama, the deal has been scrapped under Trump.
President Trump is keen on averting an all-out war with the Iranian regime, and it’s certainly in line with his campaign promises and current policy. However, there needs to be some clarity from the president on what he’s willing to do to prevent the Iranians from obtaining a nuclear weapon and using it against us and our allies.
