E-Paper
Khamenei's top advisor says Trump must ‘pay the price’ for Iran leader's death; US President responds
In response to the threats from Iran’s security chief, the US president said he “could not care less” and claimed Larijani had “already been defeated”.
Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, the country’s top national security official, on Saturday vowed to avenge the “blood of our leader” and threatened US President Donald Trump that he would “pay the price” for the killing of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the war between the two countries continues in the Middle East. In response, Trump said he “could not care less”.
Notably, Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council and a longtime confidant of Khamenei, has emerged as one of the country’s most prominent leaders since the supreme leader was killed on February 28, the first day of the war. Follow Iran-US war live updates here.
Iran’s top security official vows revenge, threatens Trump
Larijani said in a post on social media earlier on Saturday that Trump must “pay the price” for the US-Israel strikes on Iran that resulted in Khamenei’s death.
“We will relentlessly avenge the blood of our Leader and our people. Trump must pay and will pay,” he posted on X.
Speaking to Iranian state television on Saturday, Larijani said Iran “won't leave Trump alone”. He said Trump had misjudged how Iran would react and warned that the conflict would continue for a long time.
“Trump got a taste of what happened in Venezuela and liked it, thinking he could quickly do the same in Iran. Now he’s stuck,” Larijani said.
He added, “We will not leave him alone. He must pay the price for what he did. He killed our leader and martyred more than 1,000 of our people. This is not a simple matter.”
Trump responds to Larijani’s remarks
In response to the comments and threats from Iran’s security chief, the US president said he “could not care less” and claimed Larijani had “already been defeated”.
“I have no idea what he's talking about, who he is. I couldn't care less,” Trump told CBS News, adding that the Iranian official had “already been defeated.”
Trump has also rejected the latest criticism from other Iranian leaders. He described their remarks as weak and said their influence in the region was fading. He also reiterated that US strikes would continue and again demanded an “unconditional surrender” from Iran.
