Iran strongly condemned US President Donald Trump on Sunday after he claimed Washington could eliminate the country’s senior leadership “in one fell swoop” as they gathered at the funeral of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and accused the United States of lacking “civility, history or respect”.The sharpest reaction came from the Iranian Embassy in Armenia, which posted a strongly worded message on Twitter defending the late Iranian leader and criticizing Trump’s comments.The embassy wrote, “People can be killed, but not ideals. You killed Ayatollah Khamenei, but in reality, you broke a perfume bottle, the fragrance of which spread everywhere.”It said the United States, which celebrated its 250th Independence Day on July 4, could not understand the scale of public mourning because it had “no civilization, no history, no honor.”
Trump questions condolence, says US could target Iran’s leaders
The diplomatic dispute followed comments made by Trump in an interview with Axios, where he said he was surprised by the huge crowd that attended Khamenei’s funeral.According to ANI, Trump said, “I thought people hated Khamenei. Maybe these are fake tears.”He also claimed that the remaining Iranian leadership gathered at the funeral could be targeted if the United States decided to do so.Axios quoted Trump as saying, “They’re all in there. At once, and we could take them all out. But we’re not going to do that because then we would have no one to negotiate with.”Trump also said that the temporary pause in US-Iran diplomacy during the funeral period was a mutual decision and suggested that the two sides would resume talks after the conclusion of the week-long mourning ceremonies.
Huge crowd gathers at the funeral
Khamenei has been cremated in Tehran, where thousands of mourners and foreign dignitaries have gathered to pay their last respects.The former supreme leader, who was killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on February 28, is to be buried in Mashhad on July 9 after a funeral procession through Tehran, Qom, Najaf and Karbala.State-organized ceremonies drew huge crowds, with mourners seen crying, beating their chests and chanting slogans in line with Shia mourning traditions.The coffins are placed on a white platform under an ornate arch, flanked by black mourning banners and Iranian flags, highlighting both the religious and political significance of the funeral.Iran has presented the funeral as a show of national unity and resistance amid regional tensions.Khamenei’s death in an enemy attack has further cemented the story of martyrdom at the heart of Shia history, where public mourning, funeral processions and collective expressions of grief symbolize shared resistance.Slogans of “Death to America” were also chanted at the ceremonies, while mourners carrying photos of Khamenei and his successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, described the funeral as a moment of national defiance, despite ongoing diplomatic contacts between Tehran and Washington.