On January 3rd, the United States ordered an airstrike on a top Iranian official, Qasem Soleimani. Following this attack, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader promised revenge, as Soleimani was a crucial leader to Iran. As head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Soleimani held power in Iran and was an important figure. Trump responded to criticism pertaining to the attack stating that Soleimani was plotting “imminent and sinister attacks” on Americans and that he took action to halt a war. Despite Trump’s claims that he took action to prevent a war, many Americans have speculated that World War III is beginning. This theory is not very realistic, as war with Iran is incredibly unlikely considering their lack of resources and power. 

In the days following the initial incident in early January, Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at Iraqi military bases containing American troops, in retribution for the attack on Soleimani. Concerning this strike, the United States was given a warning by Iraq and no one was harmed. Leaders of Iran also stated that their response was proportionate and their action has concluded. Leaders in Iran, however, are incredibly corrupt; in Iran, many citizens were content with Trump’s actions due to the wrongdoings of the Iranian government. Since 2017, protests occurring in Iran have resulted in the Iranian government systematically infringing on the rights of citizens to peacefully assemble. By consistently arresting large numbers of people and leaving numerous citizens injured and dead, the Iranian government constantly violates Iranians’ human rights. In addition, many peaceful activists remain jailed for their defense of human rights. Ultimately, despite the gross corruption of the Iranian government, Trump’s actions were not prompted and likely not the best avenue for disrupting the corruption in Iran. 

In addition to the airstrike, Trump has pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, which placed certain restrictions on Iran’s ability to create and hold nuclear weapons. The deal, negotiated throughout the past decade and mainly established in July of 2015, terminated the possibility of Iran possessing substantial nuclear weapons; however, in 2018, Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in order to reimpose sanctions on oil which would violate the agreement. Due to his pullout, restrictions on nuclear development have been eradicated. Despite the International Atomic Energy Agency’s consistent reports that Iran was in fact following the guidelines of the deal, Trump pulled out of the deal, favoring economically crippling sanctions on oil. In response to the airstrike on Soleimani, Iran also pulled out of the agreement, stating that they are taking a larger step from the agreement than they had previously imagined. Despite America’s current feud with Iran, it is unlikely that the issues will escalate any further.