DUBAI – Iran commemorated the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday amidst a backdrop of mounting pressure on its theocratic regime. The tension is fueled by both U.S. President Donald Trump’s hints at deploying another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East and public outrage over the government’s forceful response to widespread protests.
In an interview published Tuesday night, Trump suggested this military move as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a long-time critic of Iran, visited Washington. Netanyahu aims to influence the U.S. toward imposing the most stringent terms possible in the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
Meanwhile, a senior Iranian security official planned a visit to Qatar on Wednesday following a trip to Oman, both nations playing a mediating role in the current diplomatic discussions.
Iranian state television aired footage of throngs of citizens rallying across the nation on Wednesday. These demonstrators expressed their support for the theocratic government and its 86-year-old Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, as government-organized fireworks illuminated Tehran’s night sky, cries of “Death to the dictator!” reportedly echoed from homes across the capital, reflecting deep-seated unrest.
During the public commemorations, many waved images of Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic’s founder, while brandishing Iranian and Palestinian flags. Chants of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” reverberated through the streets, underscoring the ongoing ideological fervor of the regime’s supporters amid the anniversary celebrations.
In the streets, people waved images of Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, alongside Iranian and Palestinian flags. Some chanted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who earlier ordered the country’s foreign minister to enter talks with the Americans, was expected to later give a speech at Tehran’s Azadi Square.
Among Iran’s 85 million people, there is a hard-line element of support for Iran’s theocracy, including members of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which crucially put down the protests last month in a bloody suppression that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained. Others often take part in demonstrations as they are government employees or to enjoy the carnival atmosphere of a government-sponsored holiday.
As the commemoration took place, senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani left Oman for Qatar. That Mideast nation hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked in June after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.
Qatar also has been a key negotiator in the past with Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.
Speaking to the Russian state channel RT, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran still does “not have full trust for the Americans.”
“Last time we negotiated, last June we were in the middle of negotiation then they decided to attack us and that was a very very bad experience for us,” Iran’s top diplomat said. “We need to make sure that that scenario is not repeated and this is mostly up to America.”
Despite that concern, Araghchi said it could be possible “to come to a better deal than Obama,” referencing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers Iran reached when former U.S. President Barack Obama was in office. Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from the accord.
Trump suggests sending another carrier to Mideast
The United States has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so.
Already, U.S. forces shot down a drone they said got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of a U.S.-flagged ship that Iranian forces tried to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Trump told the news website Axios that he was considering sending a second carrier to the region, noting, “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”
It remains unclear what carrier could go. The USS George H.W. Bush has left Norfolk, Virginia, according to U.S. Navy Institute News. The USS Gerald R. Ford remains in the Caribbean after the U.S. military raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
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