President Trump[1] responded Sunday night to some belligerent rhetoric from Iran[2] by taking to Twitter and “yelling” in all capital letters that Iran[3] was risking annihilation.
“To Iranian President Rouhani: Never ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before,” the president wrote, entirely in capital letters[4] with the exception of the “greeting” to President Hassan Rouhani.
“We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence & death. Be cautious!” Mr. Trump[5] concluded still in caps-lock mode, a gesture known in social media to be the equivalent of yelling in speech.
Mr. Trump[6] was responding to reports earlier Sunda[7]y that Mr. Rouhani had addressed the U.S. president at a gathering of Iranian diplomats with threats including “the other of all wars.”
“Mr. Trump[8], don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret,” the state Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
“America should know that peace with Iran[9] is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran[10] is the mother of all wars,” he said.
One other Middle East nation has threatened the U.S. with the “mother of all wars” before — Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“Death to America” is a common refrain at rallies and on state-sponsored murals in Iran[11] since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979, and there was once a special holiday declaration of a “Death to America Day.” When Mr. Trump[12] withdrew from the Iran[13] nuclear deal this spring, a crude drawing of a U.S. flag was burned in the Iranian Parliament amid chants of “Death to America.”...
Since one nation — Japan — already has been the object a nuclear attack and many nations have been conquered or suffered military defeats, the “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered” might mean a nuclear war.