Establishing a line looking forward to American collapse, Iran’s regime declared on Friday that the Presidential victory of Donald Trump is a “sign of the wrath of God”.
The Tehran Friday Prayer leader, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, issued the statement: “The bones of liberal democracy are collapsing.”
The regime initially offered disparate reactions to Trump’s surprising win. The Secretary of the National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, expressed cautious hope that a President Trump will change US policy in the Middle East. The Revolutionary Guards challenged the President-elect, proclaiming Iran’s military superiority and saying that Trump “talks off the top of his head”. The Supreme Leader said, “We are neither celebrating nor mourning because the elections make no difference to us.”
Meanwhile, President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif focused on maintaining implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal, amid Trump’s campaign opposition to the agreement.
Sedighi’s line, set by the Supreme Leader’s office, appeared to consolidate the regime response. It echoes the immediate response by the head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani welcoming US “collapse”.
Sedighi also echoed the Supreme Leader’s warning that the US has reneged on the nuclear deal, saying that Iran will respond if Congress extends the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act by 10 years. The cleric criticized Washington for “initiating bloodshed and humanitarian disaster in Iraq” in the 2003 war: “The US spent several trillion dollars…and got nothing except for bloodshed and deaths of several hundred thousand civilians.”
