'An Eye for an Eye': Twitter Also Retaliates... Nuclear Deal Representative Posts Iranian Flag

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] In the early morning of the 8th (local time), the airstrike on the U.S. Air Force base stationed in Iraq by Iran closely mirrors the attack that killed Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. From the timing of the attack to the subsequent response, Iran’s retaliation appears to follow the principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

Screenshot of Saeed Jalili, Iran's representative for the nuclear negotiations (JCPOA - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), and former U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter page

Iran carried out this operation, named "Martyr Soleimani," at 1:30 a.m. that day. This timing corresponds to when Commander Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad International Airport in Iraq on the 3rd. Earlier, a major foreign news outlet quoted a senior Iranian official saying that the Revolutionary Guard would match the scale of damage in its retaliation but would choose the timing and location. Considering this, it is presumed that the attack was timed based on the moment of Soleimani’s death.

The reaction from Iran on Twitter immediately after the attack was similar to that of U.S. President Donald Trump. Saeed Jalili, Iran’s representative to the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), posted the Iranian flag on his Twitter right after news of Iran’s attack on the U.S. base was reported. This mirrors President Trump’s action on the 3rd, when he posted the U.S. flag on his Twitter without any additional comment immediately after Soleimani’s death. At that time, before the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed Soleimani’s death, President Trump’s posting of the flag effectively acknowledged it.

This pattern was also evident in the earlier exchange of words between President Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. When President Trump warned that he would strike the same number of targets in Iran as the 52 American hostages held in Iran 40 years ago, President Rouhani responded by reminding him of the 290 people who died when the U.S. military shot down an Iranian passenger plane in 1988.