A fiery article in the Islamic Republic of Iran's Supreme Leader's revolutionary newspaper earlier this month threatened the United States and its assets, as well as its allies in the Middle East.
According to the December 11 article titled “Maximum pressure with a 'balance of terror and fear,'” the Kayhan newspaper wrote: “Today in loyalty to the Imam.” [Khomeini’s] In my opinion, the only way to counter America's bellicose policies and deter and isolate the Zionist regime is to exert maximum pressure through “a balance of terror and fear.”
The Islamic Republic tends not to refer to the Jewish state as Israel, but rather uses the term “Zionist regime” in a derogatory sense for the only democracy in the Middle East.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was the first supreme leader of the Islamic Republic after the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader of Iran's clerical regime, uses the Kayhan newspaper to express his views and thoughts. The Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) first located the Kayhan article and translated it from Farsi to English.
Iran's proxies have intensified their attacks on American forces since Tehran's strategic partner, Hamas, invaded Israel and murdered 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans in southern Israel.
Kayhan boasted in his article that Khomeini developed the “horror and fear” strategy to combat the West and called for attacks on US ships in the Persian Gulf. According to Kayhan, Iran “has now created a powerful, effective and viable means of deterrence in the Persian Gulf and international waters and has imposed its will on the Americans.”
A US State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital: “Calls for horror and fear are despicable and dangerous. “The United States does not seek conflict with Iran, but as the Biden administration has shown, the United States will do whatever is necessary to defend itself, its people and its interests from threats posed by Iran.”
The spokesman added: “We have made clear in public and private messages to Iran that it should not escalate or expand the conflict or exploit the current situation. “We have also increased our presence in the region, including the arrival of two aircraft carrier groups.” is a clear message to every actor in the region – be they a nation-state or otherwise – that this is not the time to end the conflict between Israel and the “To exploit Hamas to expand this conflict.”