Iran is escalating its threats against the United States and President Trump, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps releasing footage on Wednesday of missile and drone launches toward American bases in the Gulf. The move comes in response to fresh American strikes on Iranian targets and is accompanied by unprecedented threats from senior regime figures.
Kayhan, the newspaper widely seen as the mouthpiece of Iran's regime, ran a banner headline Wednesday morning reading "I Want Trump's Head." In an accompanying column, editor Hossein Shariatmadari called for Iran to formally declare Trump, his associates, and the pilots he claims were involved in killing former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, marked for death, saying the American president should be killed wherever he is found.
Shariatmadari demanded that Tehran officially post a cash bounty for Trump's assassination, claiming Iran has already raised more than 100 million dollars for that purpose. He also called on Iran's negotiating team to demand, as a first condition in any future memorandum of understanding, that Trump be extradited to Iran to stand trial and be punished.
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to the Supreme Leader, said Tuesday night that avenging Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now part of the revolution's stated goals. "There is a very strong popular demand that both Netanyahu and Trump not merely be punished," Rezaei said. "They must not only be punished, they must pay the full price for all the damage they caused." He added that Netanyahu is an international criminal who has already been convicted and must be punished.
Rezaei also addressed the possibility of renewed talks with Washington, urging opponents of negotiations to be patient. "The Americans themselves will be the ones to destroy the talks," he said. "They themselves will not let it reach a result. The revolution unfolding in Iran today has a dimension of military defense, it also carries the punishment of Netanyahu and Trump, and beyond that, it carries the raising of awareness among the peoples of the region, and the liberation of the entire region from Israel and from America."
Separately, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun addressed his government's negotiations with Israel, defending his choice to pursue diplomacy. "I chose the path of negotiation because I cannot stand by and watch my homeland dragged toward the abyss for the interests of another country," Aoun said. He added that the negotiating track has the backing of most Lebanese, including members of the Shiite community who paid the heaviest price in the wars, and said he had to take a step that could stop the destruction Israel is carrying out and ultimately bring the occupation to an end. Aoun said he expects his upcoming visit to Washington and meeting with the American president to produce positive results for Lebanon.
The timing of Iran's revenge rhetoric, unfolding alongside images from Khamenei's funeral procession, appears designed to send a message to the Iranian public. For the regime, mourning Khamenei is not simply a farewell ceremony but a starting point for what comes next. The message being conveyed is that the leader may be dead, but the idea of revenge is alive and continues to drive the Iranian revolution forward.
