Saturday, January 23, 2021

Top Iran leader posts Trump-like image with drone, vows revenge

DUBAI - The website of Iran's Supreme Leader on Friday carried the image of a golfer resembling former President Donald Trump apparently being targeted by a drone alongside a threat of revenge over the killing of a top Iranian general in a US drone attack.

The image first appeared on a Persian-language Twitter feed that carried a link to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's website. Twitter took down that feed on Friday, saying it was fake.

Underneath the website picture were remarks by Khamenei in December ahead of the first anniversary of the killing of top military commander General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, which was ordered by Trump.
"Both the murderers and those who ordered it should know that revenge may come at any time," said the comments on top of the image, which showed the shadow of a drone looming over the lone golfer. Trump was not named.
US-Iran tensions grew rapidly after 2018, when Trump exited a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers and reimposed crippling sanctions.
Tehran retaliated for Soleimani's killing with missile strikes against US targets in Iraq but the two sides backed away from further confrontation.
High tension and risk of war appeared to subside with the end of Trump's term as his successor President Joe Biden, sworn in on Wednesday, has said Washington seeks to lengthen and strengthen the nuclear constraints on Iran through diplomacy. READ MORE