An advisor to the President of Iran tweeted at President Donald Trump on Wednesday, threatening to unseat him if he didn’t “listen to Tucker Carlson.”
Hesameddin Ashena, the head of an Iranian thinktank, former politician, and close advisor to the current President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, said the following:
We have unseated an American President in the past. We can do it again. Trump can listen to Pompeo and we’ll make sure he stays a one-term President. Or he could listen to @TuckerCarlson and we might have a different ball game.
— Hesameddin Ashena (@hesamodin1) July 3, 2019
Carlson has generally advocated restraint in the face of Iranian hostility, often privately counseling Trump against direct military intervention in the Middle East, a sharp contrast with the more hawkish elements of the Trump administration typified by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton. (RELATED: Suspected Spies In Iran Could Be Facing Death Penalty: Report)
A picture obtained by AFP from Iranian News Agency ISNA on June 13, 2019 reportedly shows fire and smoke billowing from Norwegian owned Front Altair tanker said to have been attacked in the waters of the Gulf of Oman. (AFP/Getty Images)
The tweet comes amid escalating tensions between the Islamic Republic and the United States, recently further stoked by the shooting down of an American drone in international waters by the Iranian military.
Rouhani and his allies have frequently been described as ‘moderates’ by international observers of Iranian politics, a moniker that was often utilized by the Obama administration during their public advocacy of the Iran nuclear deal, which President Trump exited last May. (RELATED: Iran Says Middle East Will Be ‘Set On Fire’ If US Attacks)
Iran recently announced its intentions to exceed the uranium enrichment level limits set out in the Iran Nuclear Deal, putting them on the path to a functional nuclear weapon.