WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday scoffed at Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s heated warning to the U.S. not to launch future strikes on Iran, as well as the Iranian supreme leader’s assertion that Tehran “won the war” with Israel.
Trump, in remarks to reporters and later in an extended statement on social media, said the ayatollah’s comments defied reality after 12 days of Israeli strikes and the U.S. bombardment of three key nuclear sites inflicted severe damage on the country’s nuclear program. The president suggested Khamenei’s comments were unbecoming of Iran’s most powerful political and religious figure.
“Look, you’re a man of great faith. A man who’s highly respected in his country. You have to tell the truth,” Trump said of Khamenei. “You got beat to hell.”
The U.S. president spoke out a day after Khamenei insisted Tehran had delivered a “slap to America’s face” by striking a U.S. air base in Qatar and warned against further attacks by the U.S. or Israel on Iran. Khamenei’s pre-recorded statement, which aired on Iranian state television, was the first time that Iranians had heard directly from the supreme leader in days.
The heated rhetoric from Trump and Khamenei continued as both leaders face difficult questions about the impact of the strikes.
Trump and his aides have pushed back vociferously after an early damage assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency became public and indicated that the U.S. bombardment likely only set back Tehran’s nuclear program by months. The 86-year-old Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran’s theocracy, meanwhile, has appeared intent on demonstrating his authority and vigor amid speculation about his health and how involved he was in making Iran’s wartime decisions through the 12-day conflict.
In a social media post Friday, Trump also appeared to refer to a plan presented to the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in the first days of the Israel-Iran conflict to try to kill Khamenei. Trump vetoed that plan, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“His Country was decimated, his three evil Nuclear Sites were OBLITERATED, and I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, “THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!”
Trump, after the U.S. airstrikes, sent chilling warnings via social media to Khamenei that the U.S. knew where he was but had no plans to kill him, “at least for now.”
After launching the U.S. strikes — including with U.S.-made bunker-buster bombs — Trump has been insistent that Iran’s nuclear sites have been “obliterated.” Administration officials have not disputed the contents of the DIA report but have sought to focus on a CIA statement and other intelligence assessments, including those out of Iran and Israel, that said the strikes severely damaged the nuclear sites and rendered an enrichment facility inoperable.
Trump also said that he expects Iran to open itself to international inspection to verify it doesn’t restart its nuclear program.
Asked if he would demand during expected talks with Iran that the International Atomic Energy Agency or some other organization be authorized to conduct inspections, Trump told reporters the Islamic Republic would have to cooperate with the IAEA “or somebody that we respect, including ourselves.”
White House officials have said they expect to restart talks soon with Iran, though nothing has been scheduled.
U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff earlier this week said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. A sixth round of U.S.-Iran negotiations was scheduled for earlier this month in Oman but was canceled after Israel attacked Iran.
Trump expressed confidence that Iran’s nuclear ambition has faded.
“Can I tell you, they’re exhausted. And Israel’s exhausted, too,” Trump said. He added, “The last thing they’re thinking right now is nuclear.”
