FURY IN TEHRAN: Iran erupts as Trump mocks ‘delusional’ Khamenei over victory claims
The streets of Tehran exploded in rage yesterday as thousands of furious Iranians burned American flags and screamed for Donald Trump’s death — while their foreign minister delivered a devastating ultimatum to the US president.
Abbas Araghchi warned Trump to drop his “disrespectful and unacceptable tone” towards Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or forget any chance of a nuclear deal, as tensions between the two nations reached boiling point.
‘You got beat to hell’
The extraordinary confrontation erupted after Khamenei made his first public appearance in a week, emerging from his bunker to claim Iran had won its devastating 12-day war with Israel.
Trump’s response was brutal. In a rambling Truth Social rant, the American president mocked the 86-year-old ayatollah for lying about the conflict’s outcome.
Why would the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ say so blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel, when he knows his statement is a lie?” Trump wrote. “As a man of great faith, he is not supposed to lie.”
The president twisted the knife further at a White House press conference, declaring bluntly: “You got beat to hell. Israel was beat up too, they were both beat up.”
Tehran burns with fury
Within hours of Trump’s mockery, the Iranian capital erupted. Massive crowds poured into the streets after Friday prayers, their faces contorted with rage as they waved portraits of Khamenei and flags of terrorist group Hezbollah.
“Death to America! Death to Israel!” the mob chanted, their voices echoing through downtown Tehran as US and Israeli flags went up in flames. The familiar refrain — a staple of Iranian protests for 45 years — took on new venom as demonstrators demanded revenge.
“How much longer are we going to live in fear?” screamed Ahmad Moadi, a 62-year-old retiree caught up in the frenzy. “As an Iranian, I believe there must be an overwhelming response, a scathing response.”
The protests spread like wildfire across the Islamic Republic. In Baghdad, followers of firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr torched American flags. In Yemen’s capital Sanaa, tens of thousands rallied under the Iran-backed Houthis’ blood-soaked banner proclaiming “death to America, death to Israel, a curse on the Jews.
‘Stop hurting his followers’
Iran’s top diplomat didn’t hold back in his extraordinary response to Trump’s jibes. In a statement dripping with barely concealed fury, Araghchi lectured the American president on Persian pride.
“The complexity and tenacity of Iranians is famously known in our magnificent carpets, woven through countless hours of hard work and patience,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We know our worth, value our independence, and never allow anyone else to decide our destiny.”
But it was his ultimatum that sent shockwaves through diplomatic circles: “If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers.
The warning came with a chilling threat. “The Great and Powerful Iranian People do not take kindly to Threats and Insults. If Illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its Real Capabilities, which will certainly END any Delusion about the Power of Iran.”
Trump’s bombshell claims
The president’s assault on Khamenei went far beyond mere mockery. In explosive revelations, Trump claimed he knew the Iranian leader’s exact bunker location during the recent war but refused to authorise his assassination.
I saved him from a VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH,” Trump boasted, adding that he also blocked an Israeli air operation that would have killed “many Iranians” in what he called “the biggest attack of the war, by far.
The claims sent Iranian officials into overdrive. In a letter to the UN, Iran’s envoy Amir Saeid Iravani condemned the “reckless and deliberate threats” as serious violations of international law.
Nuclear nightmare
The war of words comes at a catastrophic moment for Iran. US strikes on three nuclear facilities — Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan — have left the Islamic Republic’s atomic ambitions in tatters, with Trump claiming it would take “years” to restart the programme.
“They spent over $1 trillion on nuclear and they never got it together,” the president gloated. “Nothing was moved from the site, by the way, to do that is very dangerous. It’s very, very heavy material.”
But Khamenei, speaking to teachers in Tehran, painted a vastly different picture. They could not do anything, they could not achieve their goal, and they are exaggerating to cover up the truth,” he insisted, claiming Iran had “dealt America a hand slap in the face.
Streets of rage
The fury on Tehran’s streets reflected decades of anti-American hatred carefully cultivated by the regime. Since the 1979 revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah, “Death to America” has been the Islamic Republic’s rallying cry.
Every Friday, in mosques across the nation, the chant rises. Every November 4th — the anniversary of the US embassy seizure — is celebrated as “Death to America Day.” State-sponsored murals depicting America’s destruction line Tehran’s streets.
Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, leading Friday prayers, told worshippers that Israel had attacked Iran out of “despair” and accused the Jewish state of waging “psychological war” to turn Iranians against their government.
But for all the orchestrated rage, cracks are showing. During massive anti-regime protests in 2022, demonstrators refused to trample on American and Israeli flags painted on university grounds — a defiance that Trump himself praised.
‘Death to traffic!’
The slogan’s true meaning remains contested. Travel writer Rick Steves once recorded a Tehran taxi driver exclaiming “Death to traffic!” before explaining: “When something frustrates us and we have no control over it, this is what we say.
Khamenei himself has insisted the phrase targets US policies, not people. Death to America means death to Trump, Bolton and Pompeo,” he claimed in 2019. “We criticize American politicians who are managing that country. Iranian nation are not against American people.”
But as smoke from burning flags filled Tehran’s air yesterday, such distinctions seemed academic. The mob wanted blood — and their leaders were happy to stoke the flames.
Funeral for the fallen
The protests coincided with massive state funerals for 60 regime figures killed in the recent war, including top Revolutionary Guard commanders and nuclear scientists. Thousands lined Tehran’s streets as flag-draped coffins passed, chanting for vengeance.
Among the dead: Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami and aerospace commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh, both killed on the war’s first day. Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi was buried alongside his wife.
President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremonies, where state TV claimed more than 1,000 Iranians died in the 12-day conflict, including 417 civilians. Israel lost 28 people to Iranian missile strikes that penetrated its vaunted Iron Dome.
Deal or no deal?
Behind the theatrical rage, both sides are manoeuvring for advantage in potential nuclear negotiations. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted America remains “focused on diplomacy and peace,” revealing ongoing communications through Qatari intermediaries.
But Iran’s position has hardened dramatically. Majid Farahani, an official with the Iranian presidency, told CNN that diplomacy could “easily” restart — but only if Trump orders Israel to stop its attacks first.
President Trump can easily stop the war by only one telephone call to the Israelis,” he said, repeating Tehran’s stance that talks are impossible while bombs fall on Iran.
The regime remains adamant it won’t abandon uranium enrichment, despite American and European demands for “zero enrichment” as the price of sanctions relief.
Supreme delusions
As Khamenei huddles in his bunker, his regime’s propaganda machine works overtime to spin military humiliation into victory. But Trump’s mockery has clearly struck a nerve, exposing the ayatollah’s weakness to his own people.
The supreme leader who once suspended “Death to America” chants after 9/11 now presides over a nation where the slogan has become a crutch for a failing regime. Every Friday, as the faithful gather to curse America, Iran slides deeper into isolation and economic ruin.
Trump may have saved Khamenei from an “ugly death,” but the Iranian leader’s claims of victory fool nobody. His nuclear programme lies in ruins. His top commanders fill Tehran’s graveyards. His people queue for petrol as power cuts plague the nation.
Yet still the chants echo through Tehran’s streets: “Death to America! Death to Israel!” The slogans that have sustained the Islamic Republic for 45 years now sound increasingly like its death rattle.
As Araghchi’s carpets metaphor suggests, Iran’s leaders believe in patience and perseverance. But Trump’s brutal honesty — “You got beat to hell” — cuts through their carefully woven deceptions.
The supreme leader may claim divine authority, but as Trump acidly observed: “As a man of great faith, he is not supposed to lie.”
In the battle between American bluntness and Persian pride, the truth remains stark. Iran lost the war. Its nuclear dreams are shattered. And all the “Death to America” chants in the world can’t change that brutal reality.
Image credit: Photo by khamenei.ir, taken on 9 February 2021, featuring Iranian diplomat Dr Seyed Abbas Araghchi in an interview setting. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Image page: View on Wikimedia Commons – “Abbas Araghchi 2021 (cropped)”
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