Middle East hots up again as Trump, Iran exchange threats

Even as the White House gloated in the wake of a controversial victory in the US Supreme Court on birthright citizenship and boasted of ‘Trust in Trump’, Iran conveyed through its foreign minister that it did not trust Trump.

Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi retorted to the insult heaped by Trump on Ayatollah Khamenei by saying that Iran did not take kindly to insults and threats. Araghchi went on to threaten and say, 'If Illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its Real Capabilities, which will certainly END any Delusion about the Power of Iran.' The fragile peace or ceasefire in the region appear already frayed.

The reply followed another offensive post on Truth Social by the US President. Claiming that he had saved Iran’s supreme leader from a ‘very ugly and ignominious death’, he wondered 'why would the so-called supreme leader say so foolishly that he won the war against Israel' and declared that he had dropped his plans to lift the sanctions imposed on Iran by the US and the West.

He went on to say, 'They are always so angry, hostile, and unhappy, and look at what it has gotten them -- a burned-out, blown-up country, with no future, a decimated military, a horrible economy, and death all around them. They have no hope, and it will only get worse! I wish the leadership of Iran would realise that you often get more with honey than you do with Vinegar. Peace!!!'

Trump was apparently riled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s claim that the United States had achieved none of its objectives by attacking Iran, made in a televised address to the people of Iran. He also did not take kindly to Tehran celebrating its victory in the 12-day war or Iran claiming that it was Israel and the US which had sought the ‘ceasefire’.

Iran has agreed to a cessation of hostilities—as long as it is not attacked again—and has not accepted the ceasefire, its spokesmen have repeatedly pointed out.

Araghchi’s response was swift. 'We know our worth, value our independence, and never allow anyone else to decide our destiny. If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of followers. The Iranian people, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had no choice but to run to Daddy to avoid being flattened by our missiles, do not take kindly to threats and insults...,' he posted on X.

Iranians, explained Mohammed Marandi, a professor of English Literature at Tehran University, in multiple interviews over the last 24 hours, have always found it difficult to trust the US and the West. Trusting Trump was impossible, he added.

Pointing out how Trump initially feigned indifference to the mounting tension between Israel and Iran, saying it was not a war involving the US before jumping in to take credit for the unprovoked blitzkrieg launched by Israel on the first day of the war, catching Iran off balance. President Trump is so deceitful, he went on to say, that it is easier to read him than Obama. It was also easier to rally people against Trump than Obama because Trump is so crude, the professor claimed.

Trump had managed to unite the Iranians like never before, said Marandi. “I have never seen them so united since the 1980s when the US instigated the eight-year war between Iraq and Iran,” he added. While Iran was quiet and on Saturday, 28 June buried the ‘martyrs’ killed in the Israeli air strikes, it was difficult to predict how long the peace would last.

Not for very long, if the war of words between Trump and the Iranian leadership is any indication. For good measure, Israel has already begun to threaten breaking the ceasefire and its defence minister has publicly stated that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) indeed had plans to assassinate Ali Khamenei. So, round two of the hostilities may resume sooner than expected unless better sense prevails.