He too will fall: Khamenei likens Trump to fallen tyrants as Iran protests rage

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered a sweeping rebuke of the United States and its president, warning that history shows “arrogant rulers” inevitably fall when they reach the height of their power.

In a post on X, Khamenei drew parallels between the current US president and figures he described as symbols of tyranny and hubris. “The US President who judges arrogantly about the whole world should know that tyrants and arrogant rulers of the world, such as Pharaoh, Nimrod, Mohammad Reza [Pahlavi] and other such rulers saw their downfall when they were at the peak of their hubris. He too will fall,” he wrote.

Khamenei’s remarks came as Iran faced widespread unrest and rising tensions with United States, following comments by US President Donald Trump backing Iranian protesters.

Speaking to supporters in Tehran, Khamenei accused Washington of open hypocrisy, pointing to US actions abroad. “You can see how they’ve besieged a country in Latin America and taken actions there. They aren’t even ashamed and explicitly state that this was for oil. For oil!” he said.

The Iranian leader also condemned overnight vandalism in Tehran and other cities, blaming protesters for targeting their own country to win US approval. “A bunch of people bent on destruction came and destroyed buildings that belong to their own country in order to please the President of the US and make him happy,” he said. “If he’s so capable, he should manage his own country.”

Referring to what he called a recent “12-Day War,” Khamenei said more than a thousand Iranians were killed and accused Trump of admitting responsibility. “So, he confessed that the Iranians’ blood was on his hands. Now he’s saying that he’s on the side of the Iranian nation,” he told the crowd.

“All should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran, established with the sacrifice of several hundred thousand honorable people, will not back down,” Khamenei said, adding that Iranians “will not tolerate the hirelings of foreign powers.”

He also struck a defiant tone on Iran’s military strength. “Today, the Iranian nation is even more equipped and armed than before the Revolution. Our spiritual strength and conventional weapons cannot be compared to what we had in the past,” he said, insisting US calculations about Iran were “wrong, as they have been before.”

Alongside the rhetoric, Iranian authorities signaled a hard line against demonstrations. State television aired footage of crowds chanting “Death to America!” as Khamenei dismissed Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.” Protesters were repeatedly labeled “terrorists” by state media.

Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei warned that punishment for protesters would be “decisive, maximum and without any legal leniency,” raising fears of a violent crackdown.

Despite an internet and phone blackout, videos shared by activists appeared to show protesters lighting bonfires and chanting against the government in Tehran and other cities. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 62 people had been killed and more than 2,300 detained.

The unrest has also revived the profile of Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Reza Pahlavi has called on Iranians to demonstrate, with chants supporting the former monarchy surfacing in recent protests.

Analysts say the communications blackout appears designed to shield security forces from scrutiny. “This is exactly why the internet was shut down: to prevent the world from seeing the protests,” said Holly Dagres of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “It also likely provided cover for security forces to kill protesters.”

- Ends

With inputs from agencies

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