Look the other way: Donald Trump's Iran rant a distraction from controversial Putin summit

Look the other way: Donald Trump's Iran rant a distraction from controversial Putin summit

On this count you certainly couldn't accuse the US leader of not making himself clear.

You could pretty much sense how hard Donald Trump's angry fingers had battered the keyboard in his late night tweet.

A silent shout on social media, threatening the Iranian regime with "consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before".

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018

But within what will appear to some as a mad rant, is there method within those capital letters? Mr Trump's use of Twitter to goad, traduce and threaten is not unusual.

Last summer, the target of his ire was the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.


The US president, I'm sure, believes that it was his taunting of him as "little rocket man" that led to a summit and negotiations.

In his head, through his mastery of Twitter as a diplomatic tool, he pulled the world back from the brink of nuclear war; except according to his critics he actually got nothing in return.

President Trump appears to be now using the same tactic with Iran.

Image: Iran's President Rouhani warned of the 'mother of all wars'

His tweet was in response to a speech by the Iranian president which warned America to end its hostile action - or a conflict with Iran would be the "mother of all wars".

President Hassan Rouhani also spoke of the possibility of peace but that seems to have been lost in the mire.

So, the question is - will this shot across the bows on Twitter by Mr Trump work?

It's unlikely.

Tehran has accused Mr Trump of waging psychological warfare. It sees the US as trying to force the leadership into making a misstep.

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They, remember, have not abandoned the nuclear deal and are still engaging with their European partners.

Perhaps another way, and better way, of looking at the tweet is through the prism of domestic US politics.

Mr Trump was heavily criticised for his performance during his meeting with Vladimir Putin last week - with some even calling him treasonous.

His latest missive is certainly a distraction from that.

It also moves the dial on the news cycle.