Iran marked its national holiday on Friday with nationwide rallies with far less of the usual vitriol for the United States, in what seemed a move calculated to avoid further inciting President Trump.
Many observers had expected Iranian leaders to take aim at Mr. Trump during rallies celebrating the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The stacks of posters handed out by state organizations largely avoided mentions of Mr. Trump. Anti-American slogans, usually printed in English in the past for the international news media to see, were mostly in Persian. Most notably, there were no missiles on display, as had been customary in previous years, to show off Iran’s military capabilities.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have surged in recent weeks, after Mr. Trump blocked citizens of Iran and six other predominantly Muslim nations from visiting the United States, and he called Iran “#1 in terror.” His national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, put the country “on notice” after it conducted a missile test late last month.
There were examples of anti-American sentiment on view, however: [...] But given the size of the rally in Tehran, the usual anti-Americanism appeared less noticeable than in previous years.
“Today’s rally shows that the government does not want any confrontation with the U.S.,” said Farshad Ghorbanpour, an analyst who is close to the government of President Hassan Rouhani. “Don’t be surprised, we have no interest with tensions.”
It's almost as if taking a hard line with avowed enemies, and acting scary and unpredictable... tends to strike the fear of Allah into said enemies, with a salubrious effect on their behavior? Hold on, someone from the Harvard Kennedy School is here to explain why I'm wrong.
As a side note, I love the phrase "to avoid further inciting President Trump." Just smile and nod, and back away slowly...
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