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."
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.
-
Bluetoothing: the phenomenon driving HIV spike in FijiUnder the Radar ‘Blood-swapping’ between drug users fuelling growing health crisis on Pacific island
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Book reviews: ‘We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution’ and ‘Will There Ever Be Another You’Feature The many attempts to amend the U.S. Constitution and Patricia Lockwood’s struggle with long Covid
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
