Tehran Should Ask 'Then What?' by Amir Taheri  •  December 13th  Reacting to the killing of Major-General Qassem Soleimani and Brigadier-General Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, regime "thinkers" promise "revenge" and suggest this could be done with a single deadly blow to the "enemy".... Needless to say, when Khomeinists speak of "the enemy," they mean the American "Great Satan" and its sidekick Israel. Even Ghulam Esmaili, spokesman for Islamic Judiciary, has joined the armchair strategists by suggesting "the clearing out of America and Israel" with a "single blow." Launching the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Japanese high command also forgot to ask "what next?". [T]he Kayhan editorialist who urged the attack on Haifa... says because the Islamic Republic has "all US bases within range", cowardly Americans won't react to a destructive attack on Israel. And if they did, he says, Tehran could pour missiles against US bases in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, the US 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, the CENTCOM in Qatar, bases in Omani part of Musandam Peninsula. The editorialist believes the US would simply grin and bear each attack. Iran's daily newspaper Kayhan, reflecting the views of "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei, says that Iran's "single blow" should come in a rainstorm of missiles against the Israeli port of Haifa. It then insists that the attack should not be merely symbolic but should cause total destruction and kill lots of people. (Image source: khamenei.ir) In the One Thousand and One Night tale of the princes of Serendip, all three have one desire: To achieve all their wishes with a single throw of the dice. However, not confined to the world of oriental tales, that dream has dictated quite a few tragic, comical and tragi-comical events in history. The latest appearance of the "one throw" theme could be witnessed in Tehran these days, where Islamic Republic leaders offer both tragic and comical versions of it. Reacting to the killing of Major-General Qassem Soleimani and Brigadier-General Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, regime "thinkers" promise "revenge" and suggest this could be done with a single deadly blow to the "enemy". Continue Reading Article