The last decades the Middle East has been a battleground for all world leaders to fight out conflicts. Joining conflicts in the Middle East seems like showing your power to the rest of the world. The battleground now seems to be Iraq. The neutral force between Iran and America whose main agenda was preventing escalation between the two countries is now at the center of the conflict. The drone-strike near Baghdad Airport on one of the most powerful and popular generals in the Middle East didn’t only split Iran and America apart but also killed all sovereignty of Iraq. And lets not forget, also five Iraqi’s were killed in the strike.
Today a red flag was raised in Iran, the blood-red flag is a sign of upcoming revenge on US targets. Since the American forces has been controversially pulled out Syria they look like an easy target for Iran. One thing is sure: retaliation is going to happen, many US-workers in Iran left as soon as the news went public. The Iranian government was already talking about 35 potential US targets. Will this conflict escalate further or will Iran back down?
“Always get even. When you are in a business you need to get even with people who screw you. You need to screw them back fifteen times harder” – Donald Trump in Thinking Big (2007)
Although Iran probably has nuclear weapons and the capacity to hit American targets (read Tel Aviv) with great strength, it will probably try to find minor targets to attack. American oil tankers are a likely target. Oil prices went up by more than three percent following the news. However there’s no need for fearing a World War 3 to happen. America has complete supremacy over Iran and this is something Iran knows too. This is probably what Donald Trump thought when giving green light to the attack. And lets be honest, Soleimani is supposedly responsible for the killing of hundreds Americans and allegedly planned more. Isn’t it refreshing to see a superpower like America showing its power to safeguard its people abroad? It almost seems like Western countries always take the high road when under attack, which is smart if you don’t want further conflict to happen but not if you are a proud man like Trump thinking about a presidential election.