Iran took aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his and President Donald Trump's threat to bomb the Tehran regime "back to the stone age."
"Stone Age? At a time when you were still in caves searching for fire, we were inscribing human rights on the Cyrus Cylinder. We endured the storm of Alexander and the Mongol invasions and remained; because Iran is not just a country, it is a civilization," the Iranian embassy in South Africa wrote in a social media publication.
Stone Age?
— Iran Embassy SA (@IraninSA) April 2, 2026
At a time when you were still in caves searching for fire, we were inscribing human rights on the Cyrus Cylinder.
We endured the storm of Alexander and the Mongol invasions and remained; because Iran is not just a country, it is a civilization. https://t.co/7yGdWKMV5i
Trump said in a prime time address on Wednesday that the U.S. is going to "bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong" while discussions continue.
The president also hailed operations that have taken place so far, saying "thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track and the country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat."
He went on to note that if Tehran doesn't reach a deal with the U.S., forces will aim at the country's energy infrastructure. "We are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously," he added.
However, an NBC News report noted that there is no indication that the Tehran regime has lost its grip on power or that the new leadership has broken with the Islamic Republic's ideology.
Citing experts, the outlet added that the country's new leaders are as hard-line or even more than their predecessors.
Iran’s new leaders have the same ideology. All are committed to the principles of the 1979 revolution and will rule with greater brutality given their lack of legitimacy. They fear normalization with the US more than conflict with the US. CNN with @AC360 pic.twitter.com/xvrKQOonNE
— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) March 25, 2026
"Iran's new leaders have the same ideology. All are committed to the principles of the 1979 revolution and will rule with greater brutality given their lack of legitimacy. They fear normalization with the U.S. more than conflict with the U.S.," Karim Sajadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in a social media post.
By mid-March, U.S. intelligence agencies noted that the regime remained "intact but largely degraded due to attacks on its leadership and military capabilities." It is unclear whether the assessment has changed two weeks on.
The New York Times detailed earlier this week, however, that Iranian leaders are struggling to make coordinated decisions. They are not having phone calls or meeting in person due to concerns about being tracked and killed. Moreover, negotiators may not know what they can concede in such negotiations, or who to ask about them.
