U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth said in a press conference this morning local time that the new Supreme Leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, has been injured and may have been disfigured:
"The leadership of Iran is currently in an unfavorable situation. They are desperate and have gone into hiding, going underground. They are showing cowardice. This is what rats do."
The last bit of civility has been torn off, and he has started to insult people. This is not the behavior of a strong person, but rather a display of weakness.
As the U.S. Defense Secretary, Hegseth's remarks about the new Supreme Leader of Iran being "injured and disfigured" and calling his leadership "rats/cowering" aim to humiliate the opponent with extremely derogatory language, undermine the morale of Iran, and demonstrate a tough image both domestically and internationally—essentially, it's an expression of his own insecurity.
Labeling a leader of a sovereign country with extremely derogatory terms, calling them "rats" (rats/cowering), is a typical form of dehumanization. By doing so, it stigmatizes the target, weakening Iran's deterrent power in the region.
Although Hegseth has repeatedly claimed major victories, Trump also said that Iran was left with nothing, but international public opinion generally believes the situation is in a stalemate. Iran has seized a geopolitical leverage by blockading the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, Hegseth's harsh statements are, to some extent, a strategic move to cover up the difficulties in ground advances and shift the anxiety about the war's prolongation.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1859583189086208/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.