U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday traded insults with the supreme leader of Iran, calling for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to “Make Iran Great Again!” after he called Trump a “clown” in a rare sermon.
“The so-called “Supreme Leader” of Iran, who has not been so Supreme lately, had some nasty things to say about the United States and Europe,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Their economy is crashing, and their people are suffering. He should be very careful with his words!”
The remarks come in apparent response to Khamenei’s sermon earlier Friday, in which he lambasted the United States for the recent killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Khamenei called European countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany “servants” of the United States with “contemptible” governments, the Associated Press reported.
Shortly after Trump’s tweet, Khamenei’s official English language account tweeted out that the U.S. government lies when saying it stands with the Iranian people.
“If you are standing by the Iranian ppl, it is only to stab them in the heart with your venomous daggers. Of course, you have so far failed to do so, & you will certainly continue to fail,” Khamenei’s account said.
Trump retweeted his response in both English and Farsi: “The noble people of Iran—who love America—deserve a government that’s more interested in helping them achieve their dreams than killing them for demanding respect. Instead of leading Iran toward ruin, its leaders should abandon terror and Make Iran Great Again!”
Soleimani’s death in a U.S. drone strike earlier this month prompted a major escalation between the United States and Iran, with the Iranian military launching ballistic missiles on an Iraqi base hosting U.S. forces. In preparation for a possible American counterstrike, Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet outside Tehran.
The downed jet — with many Iranian passengers — prompted frustrations to boil over in Iran and contributed to protests against the regime. Canada, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Sweden and Ukraine, whose citizens were among the victims, all pushed Thursday for Iran to pay compensation.
After seeing viral videos of Iranian protesters showing deference toward the United States, including opting not to walk on an American flag painted on a sidewalk, Trump took credit for what he characterized as a newfound respect for the country. Iranian views on the United States often reflect many of the byzantine social divisions in the country, and many Iranians celebrated the thawing of relations between the two countries after the signing of the 2015 nuclear agreement.
The Trump administration also imposed sanctions Friday on a senior Iranian general, Gen. Hassan Shahvarpour, for brutality against protesters last November that caused nearly 150 deaths.
Khamenei said the shooting of the plane was a “bitter accident” and that Iran’s adversaries used the crash to challenge the authority of the Islamic regime, according to the AP.
Khamenei further added he was unwilling to negotiate with the United States on rebuilding the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015, though he may be willing to do so with European countries. Trump withdrew from the agreement last spring and Iran has gradually rolled back its commitments under the agreement.