Iran’s highest-ranking political and military officials lashed out aggressively at US President Donald Trump after his recent tour of the Middle East, accusing his comments of being manipulative and inflammatory.
In a speech before teachers at a state ceremony in Tehran on Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei brushed off Trump’s comments as below response. “His words are a shame for him and the American nation,” Khamenei told participants, as crowds chanted “Death to America.” Khamenei blamed Trump for lying about wanting peace, denouncing Washington’s backing of what he referred to as the “massacre” of Palestinians. Khamenei called Israel an “injurious cancerous tumour” that needed to be “eliminated.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reinforced the same, challenging Trump’s genuineness in speaking about peace while backing the actions of Israel in Gaza. He also condemned Trump’s sanctioning of the International Criminal Court, labeling the former president’s messages as contradictory.
Trump’s tour included meetings with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, where he praised their infrastructure progress while lambasting Iran’s government. He accused Iranian leaders of corruption and mismanagement, highlighting ongoing energy shortages that leave many Iranians facing extended power outages.
As electricity restrictions tightened on major industries such as mining and steel, Iran’s industrial lobbies desperately demanded the easing of such measures. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meanwhile labeled Trump’s remarks “deceptive,” stressing that US sanctions and military intimidation are the actual causes of Iran’s problems.
Other Iranian officials, such as Parliament Chief Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and IRGC commander Hossein Salami, also denounced Trump for being in “delusion” and asserted Iran’s pride in its identity and culture despite pressure from outside.
The heated exchanges come after Trump’s provocative proposal to rebrand the “Persian Gulf” as the “Arabian Gulf,” which prompted widespread outrage in Iran across society.
