Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, addressed Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time since 2012 and used the platform to praise the country's retaliatory strike against the U.S. over the killing of one of its top generals and called President Trump a clown who cannot be trusted.
His decision to lead the prayers was seen as a "symbolically significant act," one usually reserved for an important message to the people, a Middle East scholar told the Washington Post.
Khamenei's message appeared to show little interest in forging a relationship with the U.S. He blamed Washington for its "cowardly" decision to take out the country's most effective commander in the fight against ISIS.
Trump, who ordered the Jan. 8 airstrike in Baghdad, called Gen. Qassem Soleimani one of the "worst terrorists in history and the father of the roadside bomb," who had the blood of U.S. servicemembers on his hands.
Iran, in response, launched a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting U.S. troops in Iraq, without causing serious injuries. It was just revealed that 11 U.S. service members were flown out of Al Assad Air Base in Iraq-- one of the bases targeted-- and treated for concussion symptoms.
“The fact that Iran has the power to give such a slap to a world power shows the hand of God,” Khamenei said, according to Reuters.
As Iran's Revolutionary Guard braced for an American counterattack that never came, it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian jetliner shortly after it took off from Tehran's international airport, killing all 176 passengers on board, mostly Iranians.
Khamenei called the shootdown of the plane a "bitter accident" that saddened Iran as much as it made its enemies happy.
Authorities in Tehran concealed their role in the tragedy for three days, initially blaming the crash on a technical problem. Their admission of responsibility triggered days of street protests, which security forces dispersed with live ammunition and tear gas.
Protesters in the country took to the streets calling for Khamenei to step down. Twitter users posted videos of protesters holding photos of the leader chanting, “Commander-in-chief (Khamenei) resign, resign,” according to Reuters.
Trump praised the protesters and pointed out one video that showed them refusing to step on Israeli and American flags.
Khamenei told the crowd Friday that Trump is not to be trusted and only pretends to support the Iranian people. He said Western countries are too weak to "bring Iranians to their knees." He said Iran was willing to negotiate, but not with the U.S.
As Tehran grappled with the fallout from protests stemming from a cover-up of its accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner, TV anchor Gelare Jabbari addressed her viewers on an Instagram post that appears to have been deleted.
“It was very hard for me to believe that our people have been killed," the post read, according to The Guardian. "Forgive me that I got to know this late. And forgive me for the 13 years I told you lies.”
Fox News' Adam Shaw, Louis Casiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiXWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZveG5ld3MuY29tL3dvcmxkL2lyYW5zLXN1cHJlbWUtbGVhZGVyLWNhbGxzLXRydW1wLWEtY2xvd24tcHJhaXNlcy1taXNzaWxlLWF0dGFja9IBYWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZveG5ld3MuY29tL3dvcmxkL2lyYW5zLXN1cHJlbWUtbGVhZGVyLWNhbGxzLXRydW1wLWEtY2xvd24tcHJhaXNlcy1taXNzaWxlLWF0dGFjay5hbXA?oc=5
2020-01-17 09:46:20Z
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