Iran unveils 'We will kill Trump' billboard as Khamenei warns US hostility will persist

The billboard, which depicts President Donald Trump behind bars with his head bowed, was unveiled over Enqelab Square. Thousands of demonstrators marched through Tehran burning US and Israeli flags and chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” on the anniversary of the takeover of the US embassy, a crisis that cemented the rupture between the two countries.

The anniversary comes against the backdrop of a US-Israeli war launched against Iran on February 28, which disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed before the conflict. Iran’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in that war. President Trump has acknowledged the conflict likely contributed to his party’s poor performance in Tuesday’s midterms, saying voters were probably not ready “for the short-term consequence of paying more for gasoline”.

Khamenei, in a written statement, said: “Those who still harbour even the slightest hope that the behaviour of the hegemonic system might change through partisan or factional shifts, or who imagine that making concessions to the United States can dissuade it from hostility towards the Iranian nation, are seriously mistaken.” He said Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz had shattered the “myth of America’s invincibility” and warned that any renewed attack would draw a wider response.

Despite the supreme leader’s caution, other officials struck a more triumphalist tone. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on social media: “Whether driven by conscience or the cost of living, America said no to war and we endorse this message.” He warned that if the US government betrays the public will, “it will learn our ‘no’ comes with a nightmare”.

Ehsan Movaheidian, an international relations scholar, claimed: “The Islamic Republic of Iran has succeeded in regime change in America. The same will soon happen in Europe as well. Bow down before the power of Iran.” Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei wrote: “Trump was defeated both in war and in politics; we will certainly impose further defeats on him.”

In the US, Trump influencers who advocated for the war have urged him to escalate. Laura Loomer wrote on X: “Time for President Trump to deal with Iran once and for all. Just do it, Nothing to lose now.” Hillary Clinton said she thought Trump would probably launch the long-delayed attack: “I think he will feel trapped. He will feel angry and resentful and he will react aggressively.”

The Guardian reported that a Chinese special envoy is travelling to Oman, Iran and Saudi Arabia and that China is probably testing the feasibility of a deal under which Iran would dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium under international supervision. For the next two months before the new Congress convenes, Trump has greater latitude to act. Hamidreza Moghadamfar, an adviser to the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iran would hit targets beyond US bases if Gulf states allowed Washington to launch attacks from their territory, naming the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.