By Aram Mirzaei for the Saker blog

Tensions are reaching critical levels as Washington continues to threaten Iran while the madmen Bolton and Pompeo are growing bolder by the day. It seems as if the White House fool Trump has given up on foreign policy altogether and allowed Bolton and Pompeo to have free reigns on pushing Washington further into the abyss.

Bolton has reportedly requested 120 000 troops to be sent to the Middle East, about the same number of troops sent for the tragic Iraq war. This would in his mind show the Iranians who’s in charge, I guess. We’re talking about a country with a population of 80 million people, thrice the size of Iraq and a military that has been preparing for a war with the Zionist Empire for decades.

Who does Bolton think he’s scaring? I would say that Tehran’s reaction to these threats are met with a confidence that Washington is merely bluffing the whole thing. Earlier this week, Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out the possibility of war between the United States and Iran, saying that it would not be in Washington’s interest to start such a war.
“The Iranian nation’s definite option will be resistance in the face of the US, and in this confrontation, the US would be forced into a retreat,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “Neither we nor they, who know war will not be in their interest, are after war.”

Ayatollah Khamenei further explained that the confrontation between the two sides is “a clash of wills,” asserting that Iran would be the ultimate victor of this battle. It is an interesting way of seeing this situation, as Khamenei correctly asserts that this is truly about willpower. Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, beginning last year with Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, is aimed at bringing the Islamic Republic to its knees, getting Tehran to return to the negotiation table. Trump has made it no secret that he wishes to renegotiate the nuclear deal to include Iran’s ballistic missiles program. He and many other Zionists, including the Zionist chieftain in Tel Aviv criticized the JCPOA on the basis that Iran’s ballistic missiles were still deemed a threat to “global peace”. Why? Because they know fully well that these missiles can reach Tel Aviv at any time, and there’s not a damn thing that the so called “Iron dome” could do to stop them. Since Trump is a political illiterate and can’t distinguish between an Arab and an Iranian or a Turk, he believes that sanctions and threats will make Iranian politicians run to the negotiation table, as he so boldly himself claimed, he’s “waiting by the phone for Tehran to call”.

Bolton on the other hand, having been in the game for many years, knows that Iran won’t budge. He has seen Tehran withstand all kinds of attacks and threats before, he knows that Iran fully relies on its resistance economy, and he is very much aware that internal regime change won’t happen as the Islamic Republic enjoys a broad support inside Iran. Instead, he sees his chance to finally start a war with the Islamic Republic and ultimately hoping to destroy the threat posed to his masters in Tel Aviv. Bolton is counting on Trump’s weak ego, that instead of backing down, he will double down and start a war to save face.

It seems that much of the IRGC and conservative political leadership in Tehran are viewing the situations the same way as the Supreme Leader is, they simply don’t believe that Washington is willing to go to war as Washington is fully aware that the Islamic Republic is capable of causing a lot of damage on not only US forces, but the entire region. Only yesterday, the deputy head of the IRGC said with confidence that “even our short-range missiles can easily reach U.S warships in the Persian Gulf”. On the other hand, the same deputy head of the IRGC took a shot at President Rouhani’s allies who have been calling for a “pragmatic approach” to meet these threats, ”the Western-leaning tendencies of this country raises a war versus talks dilemma, and is trying to impose new nuclear deals on the country”. It is no secret that the failure of the JCPOA and the growing threats coming from Washington have weakened the Rouhani government and given the so called “hardliners” the upper hand as the “pragmatic approach” by the “Reformists” have proven to show Iran as weak in face of Zionist animosity. As many Iranians are feeling betrayed by Washington and the Rouhani government’s promises of eased sanctions, “hardliners” are feeling more emboldened to pressure the President to completely abandon the deal, this seems to have at least in part, affected the government’s recent decision to suspend the implementation of some parts of the JCPOA.

So what are the “hardliners” hoping for instead? As I mentioned before, they don’t believe that Washington actually wants war, not only do they understand that Washington knows the costs of such a war and is not willing to take it, but they are also aware of Trump’s hopes for a renegotiation of the deal. Trump’s recent denial of the proposed plan of sending 120 000 troops to the Middle East, and the recent reports that Trump has apparently said that he does not want a war has boosted the “hardliners” confidence that there might indeed be a wedge between Trump and Bolton. Rumour have reached Tehran that Trump has grown tired with Bolton’s insane approach. Yes, it is risky to rely on the unpredictable nature of the White House fool, but with Trump crippling the Iranian economy, Tehran faces growing domestic pressure, with the risk of a larger internal conflict erupting, so countering these US threats with threats of their own, seems to be the best way to get Trump to back off, as he did with North Korea. With any luck, Trump gets tired of Bolton’s hawkish approach and fires him, and if not, the Islamic Republic is and has been ready for decades for a US attack on Iran. Washington’s threats will never get the Islamic Republic to back down on its independence and self-respect.