After US President Donald Trump claimed to have stopped the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the recent war with Israel, Iran harshly criticized Trump on Saturday for what it described as “disrespectful and unacceptable” remarks.
Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran, responded to Trump’s remarks on the social media site X, claiming that such rhetoric would only exacerbate tensions and hinder diplomatic efforts.
“President Trump should stop hurting his millions of loyal supporters and stop using such a disrespectful and unacceptable tone toward Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, if he is sincere about wanting a deal,” Araghchi said.
The comments follow Trump’s assertion on Truth Social that he personally prevented Israel and the US military from killing Khamenei during strikes on Iranian nuclear sites earlier last month as part of a 12-day war between Israel and Iran.
Trump declared, “I saved him from a very ugly and humiliating death. I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and I would not let Israel or the U.S. Armed Forces… terminate his life.”
“He does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, President Trump,'” the US president added, criticizing Khamenei for what he described as a lack of gratitude. Additionally, Trump asserted that he had been trying to reduce sanctions on Iran before calling off those efforts in response to what he called Khamenei’s “statement of anger, hatred, and disgust.”
No conversations are anticipated.
Reports of a potential restart of nuclear talks between Iran and Washington have been refuted. Earlier in the week, Trump had hinted that after tensions with Israel ended, new negotiations may start “next week.”
A senior Iranian official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the delicate nature of the issue, stated, “There will be no talks with a party that does not respect Iran’s dignity.”
“The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to ‘Daddy’ to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults,” Araghchi wrote in his article, addressing the sentiment of the Iranian public as a whole.
