Yesterday was TACO-Tuesday. It wasn’t clear why Donald Trump wanted to escort two US-flagged merchant vessels out of the Strait of Hormuz. Were there any special goods on board? Or was the entire enterprise of engaging his military just futile?
Anyway, last night he just declared “Project Freedom” would pause.
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Just after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed that hundreds of commercial ships are lining up to leave the Strait of Hormuz thanks to the United States having erected a “red, white and blue dome” over the corridor.
Not so easy, I suppose. Meanwhile I was wondering what is Iran making out of it?
I have posted one of these excellent troll videos of the Iranian propaganda machine. One can frequently identify the term “Sacred Defense”. I have wondered whether that is part and parcel of Jihad, the religious concept often translated by westerners as “Holy War”.
Donald Trump, as most Americans, safe non-Muslim Europeans, know the exact meaning of Jihad. Even less they know about Shi’ism. Trump is regarded, by pious Iranians, the Yazid of our time. The Umayyad Khalif whose generals slaughtered Imam Husayn’s small party in the plains of Kerbala on Āshūrāʾ, the tenth day of Muharram in 61 AH (680 AC).
Husayn’s mission was betrayed. His small party was hopelessly outnumbered compared to the Umayyad army sent to intercept him. While martyrdom was already a defining feature during the Prophet’s time, it now became the unmistakable sign of righteous resistance. Think about the term Axis of Resistance used by the Iranian regime for Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and you may understand better.
Yazid’s generals, who severed his head and brought it to Damascus. That story is as important to Shi’ites as the Passion of Christ for Christians. It is in the heart and soul of each pious Shi’ite Iranian. It defines the pious Shi’ite Iranian.
Sacred Defense (Defa’-e Moqaddas) is actually considered a form of Jihad. When Iranian troll or propaganda videos, such as the 2026 AI-generated “Lego-style” videos targeting Donald Trump, mention “Sacred Defense,” they are evoking a specific, deeply ideological concept that merges nationalism with spiritual warfare. Rather than Holy War (exerted by Muslim extremists), Jihad actually means “striving, or struggling” or “exerting effort” in the path of God including defence of the faith.
Some Orientalists have denounced this interpretation as apologetic. But it’s not.
The term “Sacred Defense” was also used for the Iran-Iraq war of 1980 til 1988. It reframed a brutal conventional war as a holy, defensive struggle mandated by God to protect the young Islamic Republic.
Trump may gradually realise that he cannot win this war. Future historians may conclude (and that is hoped) that TACO will be Trump’s main characteristic of his failed second term (notwithstanding that he failed already in his first).
06 May 2026 @ 8:40 UTC+2.
Last modified May 06, 2026.