Iran threatens US on first anniversary of Soleimani assassination to save face

Nora Bandari

With the first anniversary of Washington’s assassination of Iranian Quds Forces commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in an American drone strike on his car near Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020, the mullahs recently began to escalate their threats, claiming that they have not forgotten to avenge Soleimani, announcing that they will take the initiative to respond to the United States in the coming days in case it takes any action against Iran.

Iranian threats

On January 1, 2021, the Iranian threats increased in intensity, as current Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani made a new threat to Washington during an event held by the University of Tehran on the anniversary of Soleimani’s killing, saying that the former Quds Force commander’s assassination will not discourage the Iranian forces, declaring that Iran is still ready to respond to this crime, indicating that the response this time will be inside the United States.

For its part, Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations sent on January 1 a warning message to the UN Security Council against any military adventure that the United States takes in the waters of the Arabian Gulf, indicating that Washington has committed in recent weeks many violations that were represented by sending advanced weapons to the region to carry out provocative military actions against Iran, at a time when Washington is providing false information and making unfounded accusations against Tehran, according to the Iranian news agency IRNA.

This is in addition to the fact that the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami, announced during his visit to Abu Musa Island on January 2 that the Iranian forces would reciprocate and firmly respond to any act of aggression against the country, saying, “We visit Abu Musa Island to assess our preparations in the waters, to confront the enemies who make threats,” adding, “Iran has repeatedly proven that it will not condone any threat or be exposed by the enemies.”

US message

As a result, a number of American officials announced that Washington a few days ago monitored all the moves by Iran in the region, and reached an attack plan by Iran on a number of its forces in the Middle East region, noting that Washington sees indications of a possible Iranian attack in the Middle East. As a result, two American B-52 bombers flew over the Middle East last week in order to send a message to deter Iran before the anniversary of Soleimani’s assassination, according to NBC News.

Therefore, questions arise about the seriousness of the Iranian threats, meaning whether Tehran will, in the coming days, commit anything threatening Washington on the anniversary of Soleimani’s killing, or is this just a threat, and if so, what are the motives behind it

Saving face

To answer these questions, Masoud Ibrahim Hassan, a researcher specializing in Iranian affairs, told the Reference that the Iranian regime has always raised these slogans on such occasions, although they are not always escalated to the level of an actual response, as they are only to save face in front of the United States and the Iranian people on the anniversary of the killing of the one of the top figures in the Iranian regime, which caused great concern, as well as to prove to its people that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Hassan added that Iran is not expected to take any action, because the country is currently experiencing very complicated circumstances, in addition to the fact that Donald Trump’s departure from the White House has approached, and the arrival of Joe Biden, upon whom Iran is pinning its hopes on the improvement of relations with Washington and the lifting of the sanctions imposed on it. Therefore, the mullahs do not want to start this relationship with an act that could force the United States to enter a military confrontation with Iran or increase the imposition of sanctions.