Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused President Donald Trump of spreading falsehoods about his intentions in the Middle East and reiterated his longstanding hostility toward Israel, once again referring to it as a “cancerous tumor” that must be eliminated.
Reacting for the first time to Trump’s recent visit to the region, Khamenei dismissed the American president’s statements about using strength to promote peace, arguing that Washington’s use of force has fueled violence rather than resolved conflict. “Trump said that he wanted to use power for peace, he lied. He and the US administration used power for the massacre in Gaza, for waging wars in any place they could,” Khamenei said during a televised gathering with Iranian educators yesterday.
He went on to accuse the United States of providing massive weaponry to Israel, including 10-ton bombs, which he claimed were intended to target civilians. According to Khamenei, these weapons are being used against “Gaza children, hospitals, houses of people in Lebanon and anywhere else when they can.”
Khamenei, who wields absolute authority over Iran’s domestic and foreign policies, repeated his call for Israel’s elimination. “Definitely, the Zionist regime is the source of corruption, war, and rifts. The Zionist regime that is a lethal, dangerous, cancerous tumor should certainly be eradicated, and it will be.”
In addition to its anti-Israel rhetoric, Iran has funneled billions of dollars into terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis in Yemen—organizations that routinely threaten and launch attacks on Israel.
These comments from Khamenei came shortly after Trump wrapped up a high-profile tour of the Gulf aimed at reinforcing U.S. alliances and securing major financial investments for American interests.
During his regional trip, Trump criticized Iran’s leadership for its role in fueling unrest and issued a stern warning that the United States could force Iran’s oil exports down to zero. “Iran’s leaders have focused on stealing their people’s wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad,” Trump said at a Saudi investment conference earlier in the week.
Khamenei, without naming specific statements, mocked Trump’s rhetoric as humiliating. “The level of those comments is so low that they are a source of shame for the speaker himself and a cause for embarrassment for the American people.” He also declared that the U.S. would eventually be forced to retreat from the region. “Surely this model has failed. With the efforts of the regional nations, the US should leave the region, and it will leave,” he stated.
Tehran has long viewed the American military footprint in the Middle East as a direct threat, especially after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear agreement and reinstated harsh sanctions in 2018.
Khamenei also criticized Trump’s approach to the Gulf Arab states, accusing the U.S. of perpetuating their dependence. “The president of America proposed a model to these Arab countries, a model which, according to his own words, implies that without the United States, these countries would not be able to last for even 10 days. Even now, through their dealings, their behavior, and their proposals, the Americans continue to promote and impose this very same model, a model designed to make these countries dependent, so they cannot exist without US support,” Khamenei said. “This model is undoubtedly a failed one.”
Despite the aggressive posture from Khamenei, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a more diplomatic tone, stating that Tehran will continue to engage with the U.S. over its nuclear program. However, he emphasized that Iran would not surrender its national interests. “We are negotiating, and we will negotiate, we are not after war but we do not fear any threat,” Pezeshkian told naval commanders during a speech aired on state television. “It is not like that they think if they threaten us, we will give up our human right and definite right,” he said. “We will not withdraw, we will not easily loose honorable military, scientific, nuclear in all fields.”
Talks have now moved to a technical level, with both sides trying to reach consensus on the finer points of a possible nuclear deal. A central sticking point remains Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, which Tehran insists are essential, while the Trump administration demands they be halted.
Trump has repeatedly warned that if diplomacy fails, he would consider military action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials, in turn, have increasingly hinted that they may pursue a nuclear bomb if negotiations collapse.
Trump confirmed on Friday that a proposal had been presented to Iran during the discussions, though he did not go into details. At nearly every appearance during his trip, Trump declared that the U.S. would not permit Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
For years, the United States and its allies have accused Iran of secretly aiming to build nuclear arms—an allegation Iran has denied, claiming its atomic efforts are entirely peaceful. Yet, Iran has expanded its uranium enrichment to 60 percent purity, a level with no legitimate civilian use and just below what is needed for weapons-grade material. Tehran has also obstructed international oversight of its facilities.
Iran’s atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami, continued to defend the program’s legitimacy, asserting that it is subject to constant international scrutiny. “No country is monitored by the agency like us,” Eslami said on state television, adding that the UN’s nuclear watchdog carried out over 450 inspections in 2024 alone. “Something about 25% of all the agency inspections” last year, he said, took place in Iran.
{Matzav.com}