Shots have been fired in the brewing “Iran vs. United States war,” although thankfully we’re just talking about Twitter, not a real shooting war. Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took to Twitter to mock President Donald Trump, tweeting “Color Us Unimpressed” and warned Trump to be cautious. You can read the full tweet here:
COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them —albeit more civilized ones—for 40 yrs. We’ve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 23, 2018
The spat started after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Trump/the United States to “not play with the lion’s tail.” President Trump then responded with one of his more forceful tweets in recent memory:
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
The saber rattling comes as tensions between the United States and Iran continue to worsen. Under President Obama, relations between Iran and the United States were cordial and, at times, even friendly. After the United States and Iran signed the nuclear accords, it appeared that relations might even normalize to a limited extent.
However, critics—including Donald Trump—charged that Obama gave away too much in the negotiations. A sober analysis of the nuclear accords suggests that, at best, Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions would be slowed for up to a decade. Even so, critics charged that Iran would be able to continue to advance its nuclear weapons program clandestinely. This past May, President Trump unilaterally pulled the United States out of the nuclear accords. China, Russia, and the European Union are continuing to try to work with Iran.
Iran has stated that it has no ambition to develop nuclear weapons and that its nuclear ambitions are purely for civil power generation. Many of Iran’s religious leaders (who largely control the country) even claim that nuclear weapons go against the Islamic holy book, the Koran. However, given that Iran is sitting on some of the world’s largest oil and natural gas reserves, it’s hard to see why they’d need nuclear energy.
Even if Iran wanted to develop alternative forms of energy, the emergence of solar, wind, and other renewables might be a better solution than nuclear. Nuclear energy produces a lot of waste that is difficult to dispose. Under the nuclear accords, Iran would have been able to continue to develop nuclear energy. Many fear that advances in energy could speed up efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
If Iran were to gain possession of nuclear weapons, it could spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It’s believed that Israel already possesses nuclear weapons, but they are the only known nuclear power in the region. Saudi Arabia, which has been jostling with Iran for influence across the region, would almost certainly move to acquire nuclear weapons. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly lambasted the nuclear accords.
