Iran’s supreme leader called President Trump a “clown” who will backstab the Iranian people.
In his first Friday sermon in Tehran in eight years, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Trump will “push a poisonous dagger” into the backs of Iranians and only pretends to support them, according to the Associated Press. Trump tweeted a message of support in Farsi last week, telling Iranians protesting the supreme leader that he stands behind them.
“To the brave and suffering Iranian people: I have stood with you since the beginning of my presidency and my government will continue to stand with you. We are following your protests closely. Your courage is inspiring,” Trump said.
Protesters took to the streets earlier this month, calling for Khamenei to step down after Iran admitted to mistakenly shooting down a passenger plane that killed 176 people. Iran admitted that its Revolutionary Guard had shot down the plane by mistake as it awaited possible confrontation with the United States after Iran fired missiles at military bases in Iraq housing American troops in response to the killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
On Friday, Khamenei said the attack had dealt a “blow to America’s image” as a superpower and the “real punishment” would be in forcing the U.S. to withdraw from the Middle East.
