Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has taken on the “10 year challenge”, a photo sharing fad sweeping social media, by comparing U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton’s warmongering remarks 10 years ago with those of today.
“Same bull. Same bully. Same delusion,” Zarif said in a tweet on Friday, sharing two pictures side by side, one picture of a 2009 anti-Iran op-ed headline by Bolton, and another picture of a recent headline about Bolton’s Iran actions.
Same bull. Same bully. Same delusion.#10YearChallenge pic.twitter.com/KgUAejJcar
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 18, 2019
The tweet came after the White House asked the Pentagon to prepare plans for a U.S. military strike against Iran after a September mortar attack allegedly claimed by a Tehran-aligned group targeting Baghdad’s diplomatic quarter, which houses the U.S. embassy, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
The request was made during a series of meetings led by President Trump’s National Security Council, headed by Bolton.
Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated since Trump walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
U.S. officials have repeatedly claimed that they aim to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero.
Following the U.S. exit from the nuclear deal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.
Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal.
He said the U.S. policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.
The second batch of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic took effect on November 4.
