US President Donald Trump is mocked by Iranians after mixing up the country’s current supreme leader with his predecessor who died 30 years ago.
“The assets of Ayatollah Khomeini and his office will not be spared by these sanctions,” Trump said yesterday as he announced new measures against Iran’s supreme leader and top officials.
But the Islamic Republic’s founder and revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died in 1989, and the country has since been led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran soccer fans cheer beneath posters depicting supreme leaders Ruhollah Khomeini (left) and Ali Khamenei during the 2018 World Cup qualifying match between Iran and China at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on March 28, 2017. (AFP/ATTA KENARE)
“Trump doesn’t know that Ayatollah Khomeini has passed away and that Ayatollah Khamenei is the leader of Iran,” tweets Sara Masoumi, diplomatic correspondent for the reformist daily Etemad.
“Has this narcissist been waiting for (a dead man) to call him?” writes another Twitter user, after Trump last month said he would like Iran to phone him.
One social media user suggests “Trump took revenge” for Khamenei reportedly mispronouncing the president’s name as Ronald.
But one Twitter user suggests there is a plot in the White House to make the US president “look like a lunatic!”
— AFP
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