Iran’s supreme leader has said he doesn’t “trust the UK” and that Donald Trump’s body “will be food for worms”.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had earlier accused Trump of telling “more than 10 lies” when he announced the United States was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday. He added that the president had threatened the people of Iran and its government.
Khamenei told a cheering crowd in Tehran yesterday: “Trump has written a letter to the leaders of the Persian Gulf countries. “We could obtain this letter and see it. In this letter he tells them that you must all become united, you must do this and you must do that because I spent seven trillion dollars here for you.
“You petty man (Mr Trump), you spent that money to dominate Iraq and Syria but you failed. To hell with that.” In a fiery speech in the Iranian capital, he later added: “The body of this man, Trump, will turn to ashes and become the food of the worms and ants while the Islamic Republic continues to stand.”
Khamenei told the crowd that Iranian officials “want to continue the nuclear deal” with Britain, France and Germany, but added: “I do not trust these countries either.” He continued: “If you could get guarantees from them in such a way that they can be trusted, no problem then you can continue.
“If you cannot get such a strong guarantee from them, and I see it very unlikely that you can, we could not move and continue like this anymore.”
Earlier yesterday, lawmakers including a Shiite cleric set a replica US flag alight as their colleagues joined in with anti-Washington chants. They also burned a piece of paper representing the nuclear deal and stomped on its ashes.
Iranian officials have said they hope Europe will work with them to preserve the nuclear deal.