Iranian state media was unperturbed when President Trump tweeted an all-caps message to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, but Iran's Quds force chief was not happy.
War with Iran would "destroy all that you possess," said head of special forces Qassem Soleimani on Thursday. "You will start this war but we will be the ones to impose its end." Reuters reports that he also mocked Trump's "ethics of night clubs and gambling halls."
On Sunday, Rouhani warned that "peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars," which Trump did not take well. Trump took to Twitter to issue his own threat, writing "NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Despite the all-caps aggression, Iranian media dismissed Trump's tweet as a "passive reaction" to Rouhani's statement. The odd series of outbursts seemed over, until Soleimani decided to send a message of his own during an impassioned speech on Thursday. "You have to be careful about insulting the Iranian people and the president of our Republic,” said Soleimani. "You know our power in the region and our capabilities in asymmetric war. We will act and we will work." He continued by telling Trump to threaten him, not Rouhani, and said that "Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him." Read more at Reuters.
-
August 23 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include deficit dimness, steamroller-in-chief, and more
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfullySpeed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank planSpeed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutionalSpeed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Feds seek harsh charges in DC arrests, except for riflesSpeed Read The DOJ said 465 arrests had been made in D.C. since Trump federalized law enforcement there two weeks ago
-
Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBISpeed Read Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed FBI co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summitSpeed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'
