Trump Warns Iran It Faces Ruin If It ‘Wants to Fight’ With U.S.

As concern about the US attacking Iran continues to grow, President Trump added to tensions on Sunday, Tweeting out that such a fight “will be the official end of Iran,” and demanding that Iran “never threaten the United States again.”

Trump and his aides have tried to push the narrative that Iran is “threatening” the US in some very vague but serious way, using the potential threat to justify ongoing military buildups and threats for war, even as Iran downplays the situation and insists there will be no war.

In comments to reporters, Trump insisted he’s “not somebody that wants to go in to war” with Iran, but that he wants to ensure they don’t get nuclear weapons, adding another old canard into the talk of war.

Iran hasn’t been accused of doing anything remotely nuclear related during this recent build-up in tensions, and the IAEA is consistently affirming that Iran is in lines with its safeguards agreement. Raising nuclear weapons now is seemingly pointless.

Except that if history is any indicator, the fact that Trump mentioned nuclear weapons, even if without evidence and for literally no real reason, will be used by hawks in their talking points in the days to come, until it’s been repeated enough that it becomes part of the war narrative, much like all of the other things Iran isn’t really doing.

This is also a dramatic shift in Trump’s tone, as just days ago he was saying very plainly he “hoped” there would not be a war, but is now back to seemingly itching for an excuse. The false notion that Iran “wants to fight” is back, seemingly out of nowhere, and again driving Trump into another flurry of threats.

Trump has bragged in recent days of his Iran policy being so inconsistent and confusing, declaring that there can be “no way” Iran would have any idea what his intentions are, and that he thinks that’s “probably a good thing.” While opaque policies seem to be an end unto themselves in this administration, it’s hard to imagine that it isn’t meant to indicate a hawkish intent.