The leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard warned the U.S. and its allies in the Middle East that that they will be destroyed while also blaming America for protests in the country earlier this month.
About two weeks ago, Iran announced that it would massively increase fuel prices and reduce government subsidies. The announcement received swift backlash and protests broke out against the Iranian regime. Amnesty International reported that as of November 15, 143 people had been killed in the protests, accusing the regime of firing weapons at unarmed protesters using rooftops and helicopters.
Last week, the nation shut down citizens’ access to the Internet in an effort to curb protests that had spread across nearly 100 cities. TechCrunch reported that telephone access was also limited to a few countries and was being monitored by the Iranian regime.
It appears Iran is now, yet again, blaming America for its woes in an effort to redirect the anger of the Iranian people. U.S. sanctions against the country have worked, and Iran’s leadership wants its people to believe that these sanctions are the reason citizens are suffering. The Iranian people have been going through an economic downturn, with many finding it difficult to obtain good-paying jobs and maintain their middle-class status. Food prices and the cost of living have also increased in the country.
At an event on Monday Gen. Hossein Salami claimed the U.S. and its allies Britain, Israel, and Saudi Arabia helped fuel the deadly protests, Fox News reported. Salami made his claims in Tehran’s Revolution Square, in front of tens of thousands of people who held up anti-America signs.
“We have shown restraint. … We have shown patience toward the hostile moves of America, the Zionist regime (Israel) and Saudi Arabia against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Salami said, according to Fox. “If you cross our red line, we will destroy you. We will not leave any move unanswered.”
Just days before Salami’s speech, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who heads U.S. Central Command, warned that Iran would likely attack another target following September’s attack against a Saudi oil field. McKenzie said it was “very possible,” that Iran would attack again, as Foreign Policy reported.
“I think the strike on Saudi Aramco in September is pretty indicative of a nation that is behaving irresponsibly,” McKenzie said in an interview last Friday.
Iran had sponsored a strike on Saudi oil facilities which, according to Foreign Policy, “took half of Riyadh’s oil production offline.”
Yet Iran would like its people to believe that the U.S. is solely responsible for their struggles. The sanctions have worked, but have led to Iranian leaders taking out their frustration on the people. It leaves the U.S. and allied nations in a bind – do they sanction the hostile nation and risk making life difficult for its ordinary citizens or allow the terrorist-sponsoring country to continue its aggression around the world?
The Trump administration reinstated sanctions against Iran after pulling out of the 2015 Iran Deal brokered by the Obama administration, which lifted sanctions against the nation while providing no real blocks to Iran’s quest to obtain nuclear weapons.