BURSTPresident Trump on Friday claimed that he saved Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from an “ugly” and “ignominious” death after the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites last Saturday.
“Why would the so-called ‘Supreme Leader,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the war torn Country of Iran, say so blatantly and foolishly that he won the War with Israel, when he knows his statement is a lie, it is not so[?]” Trump wrote in a lengthy post to Truth Social.
“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," he continued. "I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, ‘THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’”
Trump said he “demanded” that Israel call back planes that were headed to Tehran, “looking for a big day, perhaps the final knockout,” and that the move averted “tremendous damage.”
The president's comments come after Khamenei, in his first remarks since the U.S. strikes on Iran's Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities, declared victory in the conflict and argued the U.S. “achieved nothing” through the strikes.
“My congratulations on our dear Iran’s victory over the US regime," Khamenei wrote early Thursday on social platform X. "The US regime entered the war directly because it felt that if it didn’t, the Zionist regime would be completely destroyed."
“It entered the war in an effort to save that regime but achieved nothing," he added.
The ayatollah noted in a second post that Iran “delivered a heavy slap to the US’s face” with their counterattack on the U.S. airbase in Qatar.
Trump, who has touted the strikes as a massive success that "obliterated" Iran’s nuclear capabilities — despite skepticism from Democrats — blasted the Iranian leader's statement.
"During the last few days, I was working on the possible removal of sanctions, and other things, which would have given a much better chance to Iran at a full, fast, and complete recovery — The sanctions are BITING!" the president wrote Friday. "But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more."
He also warned things "will only get worse" for Iran if they don't "get back into the World Order flow," and urged Tehran leaders to "realize that you often get more with HONEY than you do with VINEGAR. PEACE!!!”
Trump helped negotiate a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Iran that took effect within days of the U.S. strikes, and despite ongoing tension between the two sides, the fragile truce has held through the week.
During a press conference at the White House Friday, the president left the door open to bombing Iran again if the U.S. gathers intel that raises concerns about the country’s uranium enrichment capabilities.