n a chilling escalation of rhetoric, Kayhan, a hardline Iranian newspaper widely seen as the mouthpiece of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published a column on Saturday that openly advocated for the assassination of US President Donald Trump.
“”He’s way out of line! Any day now, in revenge for the blood of Martyr Soleimani, a few bullets are going to be fired into that empty skull of his and he’ll be drinking from the chalice of a cursed death,” the column read in Persian, according to a report in Fox News.
Kayhan attacks US policy
The Kayhan article also launched a broader attack on Trump’s legacy and US domestic stability: “He makes threats and then backs down! The result? The situation in America gets worse by the day. Just yesterday, it was announced that his actions have caused $3 trillion in damage to the US economy,” the editorial claimed.
The article marks a new low in tensions between the Islamic Republic and the US President, who ordered the 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Trump threatens action over nuclear program
The Kayhan article came just days after Trump, speaking about Iran’s nuclear program, warned: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing.” He also floated the possibility of reintroducing secondary tariffs, saying, “There’s a chance that if they don’t make a deal, that I will do secondary tariffs on them like I did four years ago.”
Iran rejects direct talks amid rising tensions
Meanwhile, Iran has pushed back against the idea of face-to-face talks. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed direct negotiations as “meaningless,” citing Washington’s threats and inconsistent messaging.
“It makes no sense to talk directly with a country that constantly threatens to resort to force in violation of the UN Charter,” Araghchi said in a statement. “We remain committed to diplomacy… but will be decisive and serious in defending our national interests and sovereignty.”
President Pezeshkian: ‘Equal footing’ needed
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered a more tempered tone on Saturday, expressing a willingness to engage in dialogue with the United States—if treated as an equal.
“If you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?” Pezeshkian asked. “We are ready to talk, but only on equal footing.”
Assassination plot foiled in 2023
This is not the first time Trump has been targeted. In November, the US Department of Justice thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate him. A criminal complaint filed in New York City alleges that a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps asked an Iranian national, Farhad Shakeri, to surveil and ultimately kill the then former president.
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