Following the meeting between United States President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran is in the spotlight. Trump has indicated that he supports Israel’s concerns about Iran’s missile and nuclear programs. This puts Iran on the defensive. On the one hand, Iran could call the US and Israel’s bluff and continue building missiles and developing its weakened nuclear program. On the other hand, Iran may be worried that Trump is willing to support Israeli strikes. Iran doesn’t know either way, and that could create an unstable reaction in Tehran. Their inability to fathom Trump’s real goal is part of Trump’s calculations.
One way Iran is responding is by discussing its history. In 2020, the first Trump administration ordered a drone strike in Iraq, which killed Iranian IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani. Iran’s state media on December 30 now has many articles about Soleimani. The message is clear. Iran remembers what Trump did before.
“Sheikh Maher Hammoud, head of the World Union of Resistance Scholars, says martyr Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani was the main obstacle to the realization of US-Israeli plans in the region, stressing that his role went beyond the battlefield to shaping a comprehensive strategy against terrorism,” Iran’s IRNA state media said. Hammoud said that the top anti-terror commander “was the main obstacle to the realization of these plans in the region.” (Read More)
