Have a look at the photo above, a billboard recently spotted in Tehran. The red slogan in the center, :تا جهان بیاساید , is the Persian translation of the English words, “Until the world finds rest.”1 The missiles say:
شهید امام خامنهای — “Martyr Imam Khamenei”
به یاد دختران میناب — “In memory of the girls of Minab”
شهید طهرانی مقدم — “Martyr Tehrani Moghaddam”
شهید حاجیزاده — “Martyr Hajizadeh”
شهید قاسم — “Martyr Qasem”
جهان بدون ظلم — “A world without oppression/injustice”
#نه_به_ظلم — “#No to oppression/injustice”
انتقام — “Revenge”
درس عبرت — “A lesson.” (Or “an object lesson” or “a warning”)
Note the themes of martyrdom, redemptive struggle against injustice, and the rectification at the end of history. These are a quintessentially Shiite triad. But the militarization of this triad is distinctively Khomeinist.
“UNTIL THE WORLD FINDS REST” are the most important words on the billboard, and they’re doing enormous theological work. They’re ominous enough on the face of it, but far more so …
