Iran has amplified its anti-United States messaging through state-sponsored billboards in Tehran, including a recent display depicting the skeleton of an American soldier on the shore of the Strait of Hormuz.
The billboard, erected this month in central Tehran, shows a skeleton in a combat vest with a U.S. flag patch lying near the strategic waterway. An Iranian-flagged vessel is shown sailing through the strait in the image.
The Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is a critical global oil transit point. The notes indicate that this visual is part of an ongoing propaganda campaign by Iran.
Recent weeks have seen an increase in anti-US imagery in Iran's capital. Another billboard displayed this month shows a toppled Statue of Liberty with Iranians holding flags in celebration. Previously, a billboard at Tehran's Revolution Square depicted former President Trump in a coffin with Persian text that read, "We Kill Trump." Another featured Trump being strangled by hands with the message "Revenge is inevitable."
An advisor to the Iranian Parliament speaker suggested that the regime's strategy involves waiting out the remainder of former President Trump's term, which is scheduled to end in 2029, before pursuing negotiations. "Trump will not reach an agreement with us," said Majid Shakeri, an advisor to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. "We are getting along with him until his term ends."
These displays coincide with the expiration of a month-long cease-fire between the U.S. and Iran, with no agreement in sight for an extension or a resolution to the conflict.
