Trump’s Middle East tour comments ‘not worth responding to’ says Iran’s Supreme Leader

TEHRAN (Iran): Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slammed US President Donald Trump’s comments, saying some of Trump’s comments during his recent Middle East tour were not even worth responding to, Al Jazeera reported.

Trump praised Arab leaders neighbouring Iran while blasting Tehran’s leadership, sparking a sharp rebuke from Iran.

In a speech to a group of teachers gathered for a state ceremony in Tehran on Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described Trump’s remarks as “low-level” and a “disgrace” for both Trump and the American nation.

“The level of those remarks is so low that they are a disgrace for the one who uttered them and a disgrace to the American nation,” he said, to chants of “Death to America” and others from the crowd.

Khamenei added that Trump “lied” when he said he wants to use power towards peace, as Washington has backed “massacring” Palestinians and others across the region. He called Israel a “dangerous cancerous tumour” that must be “uprooted.”

Meanwhile, speaking at a gathering of Navy officers on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian questioned Trump’s credibility, highlighting the contradiction between Trump’s messages of peace and his actions, including backing Israel’s “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, as per Al Jazeera.

“Which one of these president’s words should we believe?” Pezeshkian asked, pointing out the inconsistency between Trump’s words and actions.

“Which one of this president’s words should we believe? His message of peace, or his message of massacre of human beings?” the Iranian president said, pointing out that Trump sanctioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a move that was internationally criticised.

According to Al Jazeera, the statements came after Trump used his Middle East tour, during which he signed huge deals with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, to heap praise on Arab leaders neighbouring Iran and blasting the leadership in Tehran.

Trump sharply criticised Iran’s infrastructure, saying that they were developing their infrastructure while Iran’s “landmarks are collapsing into rubble” after theocratic establishment replaced a monarchy in a 1979 revolution.

Further, he said that Iran’s leaders have “managed to turn green farmland into dry deserts” as a result of corruption and mismanagement, and also highlighted frequent power outages in Iran, which are expected to continue for the rest of the year.

The largest associations of the mining, steel and cement industries in Iran on Saturday wrote a joint letter to Pezeshkian, urgently requesting him to review a 90 per cent electricity use restriction imposed on the critical sectors.

Trump, who hailed Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and lifted sanctions on Damascus, also aimed Iran’s regional policy.

He described Tehran’s support for the fallen establishment of President Bashar al-Assad as a cause of “misery and death” and regional destabilisation.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the US president’s remarks as “deceptive”, telling state media on Friday it was the US that hampered Iran through sanctions and military threats while backing Israel and attacking Syria. (ANI)