General

By Poorang Novak

In the space of just one week, Donald Trump has gone from tweeting Iranian President Haasan Rouhani with warnings about not threatening the US “ever again” to tweeting at him about starting negotiation between the two countries.

This took many – not least the mullahs – by surprise, but there are hints that the representatives of both nations have actually been in contact on this very matter for weeks.

By INU Staff

INU - There is no evidence to suggest that Iran has mastered the technology needed to create advanced stealth aircraft, as the Iranian regime so often claims it has.

By INU Staff

INU - On Sunday 22nd July, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke about the current situation in Iran at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library in California. His speech entitled “Supporting Iranian Voices” was addressed to many members of the Iranian American community. He acknowledged that the Iranian regime is a “nightmare” for the people of Iran and he reassured them that “the Trump administration dreams the same dreams for the people of Iran as you do, and through our labors and God’s providence that day will come true”.

by Jazeh Miller

Some are urging the United States to take military action to confront the Iranian threat. However, many others are saying that this is not necessary. There is no political will on the part of the Americans to participate in yet another war in the Middle East.

By INU Staff

INU - Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s all-caps tweet to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was meant to show that Iran is “on the wrong track” and highlighted exactly what the Regime was doing wrong.

Mattis told reporters at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California: “I think what we have to look at is the destabilizing influence that Iran has consistently displayed and demonstrated throughout the region.”

Mattis, who has been meeting with Austrailian officials alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, said that he believed “the president was making very clear that they’re on the wrong track.”
He said: “The only reason that the murderer [Syrian President Bashar] Assad is still in power — the primary reason — is because Iran has stuck by him, reinforced him, funded him. We see the same kind of malfeasance down in Yemen where they’re fomenting more violence down there. We’ve seen their disruptive capabilities demonstrated from Bahrain to the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia], and it’s time for Iran to shape up and show responsibility as a responsible nation.”

Indeed, the Iranian Regime is involved in many conflicts across the Middle East that are contrary to US interests, from keeping the “animal” Assad in power in Syria to supplying weapons and ballistic missiles to the Houthi militants in Yemen. These missiles have been used to target US ally Saudi Arabia in this four-year-long conflict, who is not only leading the US-backed coalition to restore the Yemeni government but is also one of Iran’s many foes.

Mattis said: “[Iran] cannot continue to show irresponsibility as some revolutionary organization that is intent on exporting terrorism, exporting disruption across the region.”

Trump’s tweets

On Sunday, Trump tweeted: “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!”

This was in response to Iran’s threat of the “mother of all wars” if the US continued to act against the Regime by cutting off its oil exports.

Neither Mattis nor Pentagon spokespeople have said whether the US forces based in the Middle East will be adjusting their strategy because of this war of words. However, the commander of the US Central Command in Bahrain has previously said they would be countering Iran’s threats, while Pentagon spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich said on Monday that US forces “are more than capable at defending themselves should the need arise.”

 by Jazeh Miller

Donald Trump’s latest tweet on Iran – an all-caps warning to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about threatening the US – has generated worldwide attention. Some may have written this off as Trump being Trump until the tweet was endorsed by his national security adviser John Bolton and now it is being seen as an official declaration of US policy on Iran.

Trump tweeted: “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!”

To be clear, there’s a lot of reasons why the US would need to warn Iran about ending its threatening behaviour against a country that it calls the “Great Satan”. Iran has been abducting US citizens and dual nationals, threatening to disrupt global oil supply by closing key shipping lane the Strait of Hormuz and has even attacked US troops, allies, and interests in the Middle East in its proxy wars. As recently as last year, the Regime was ordering attacks on US boats in the Persian Gulf, which equated to roughly 2.5 unsafe incidents per month.

Iran has yet to issue an official response to the tweets, with only foreign minister Javad Zarif tweeting a somewhat awkward reply which basically called Trump’s tweet uncivilised, while attempting to parody it. We can expect a harsher response from the Revolutionary Guards and the supreme leader in the coming days.

Still, it would be wrong of us to imply that the Iranian Regime’s response in any way reflected the Iranian people’s view on the matter.

The Iranian people have been involved in a nationwide uprising against the Regime since December 2017 and they welcome the strong US policy on the Regime, including the nuclear-related sanctions that will begin springing back into place on August 6.

The Iranian economy is already fixed in favour of the mullahs, leaving the people to starve whilst the Supreme Leader and his cronies line their pockets and fund terrorism and warfare across the Middle East and the world. If the US sanctions bankrupt the Iranian economy, it will take the mullahs down much more heavily than it will the people and this will allow the people to achieve their desire of regime change by and for the people of Iran.

The Iranian people are protesting the Regime on a number of issues from air pollution to human rights to the economy, but they see that the mullahs are at the center of all of these problems and that getting rid of them will allow the people to fix the problems.