Photo by Andy Buchanan / AFP
- An Iranian news agency with strong links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tweeted a threatening message Thursday to a golfing Trump.
- The post, which appeared to call for attacks to avenge the murder of Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani by a US drone last year, included the words “revenge is inevitable.”
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
An Iranian News Agency with strong ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tweeted a threatening post aimed at former President Donald Trump.
The since-deleted tweet by Tasnim News Agency said “revenge is inevitable.”
Screenshot/Twitter
In the picture, the shadow of an aircraft can be seen over a golfer that resembles Trump, whose presidency ended Wednesday. On his first day out of the White House, Trump headed to Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.
The image featured text warning that those responsible for the death of former IRGC commander Maj. Qen. Qassem Soleimani would pay.
In early January last year, the US military acting on the orders of then-President Trump conducted a drone strike in Baghdad that killed Soleimani as punishment for past actions against US military and civilian personnel, as well as deterrence for planned future actions.
"At my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani," Trump said in a statement following the strike.
In response to the death of one of Iran's most notorious military leaders, Iranian forces launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at US and coalition forces. As no one was killed in the attack, tensions between the US and Iran did not escalate further.
There were concerns, though, that Iran might move to take retaliatory action on the anniversary of the assassination. As a deterrent, the US military positioned heavily-armed naval assets in the Persian Gulf and regularly flew bombers through the area.
There was no aggressive action taken on either side as the anniverary passed.
Correction: An earlier version of this article, which cited wire reports, incorrectly stated that the image was also shared by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and that Twitter suspended his account in response. The post actually came from a fake account, which has since been suspended.