The public message that this weakened regime is now projecting on billboards like the one depicting the aircraft carrier is as maximalist as Donald Trump’s threats against it. In the message, Trump also alluded to Venezuela. “What Trump is seeking,” says Mamedov, “is the capitulation” of the regime. A U.S. military attack on Iran would not only fail to guarantee a change in the political system, but could actually strengthen the regime, Mamedov cautions. Meanwhile, the Iranian regime is trying to ease public discontent through symbolic measures.