Indications of Khamenei holding Russian Dragunov rifle during Eid sermons

Ali Ragab

In a clear message that a military solution is still an option for the US-Iran conflict, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the Eid al-Fitr prayer on June 5 while holding a Dragunov sniper rifle.

Camera lenses captured Khamenei holding the sniper rifle during Eid sermons, this was a clear message, as indicated by observers and news reports, that Tehran is ready for war.

Observers further see that choosing a Dragunov sniper rifle indicates that Khamenei wants Washington to know that Iran can target US forces and interests in the region, meaning that the war will not be an ordinary one, but a proxy war.

Also, some see that choosing a Russian-manufactured weapon reflects alliance with Russia, representing it as the country that stands with Iran in its crisis, regardless of competitiveness in Syria.

Despite that the picture called for mobilization against the United States, it shows how worried the Iranian regime is that Washington might decide to blow a strike to Tehran.

US President Donald Trump said he is prepared to talk to his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, but added, “There is always a chance” that the US would need to take military action. “I would much rather talk,” said Trump, in an interview with Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain.

During Eid sermons, Khamenei said Iran will not be “fooled” by Trump’s offer to negotiate and will not abandon its nuclear program, pointing out that Iran continues to hold up with all the political and economic pressures by the US administration.

In recent months, Washington escalated pressures against Tehran to force it into a new nuclear deal, instead of the 2015 nuclear agreement, only to ease the threats recently to be replaced by calls for negotiations instead of going to war.