Iran’s Supreme Leader Calls Trump A ‘Liar’ For Claiming To Want Peace In Middle East
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gives a press conference after casting his ballot for the parliamentary runoff elections in Tehran on May 10, 2024. (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Staff Blake Wolf 2:36 PM – Saturday, May 17, 2025
Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called President Donald Trump a liar for claiming to want peace while labeling Israel as a “cancerous tumor” which must be eliminated.
“Trump said he wants to use power for peace. He’s lying,” Khamenei wrote in an X post, just hours after President Trump left the region following stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump said he wants to use power for peace. He's lying.
“Some of the remarks during the US President’s trip to the region aren’t even worth a response at all. The level of those remarks is so low that they are a source of shame for the American nation,” he continued.
Khamenei also criticized the Trump administration for providing Israel with American made bombs to aid in the war in Gaza.
“Power can be used for peace and security. And that’s exactly why we will continue to increase our own power and our country’s power every single day,” he wrote. “They used power to provide the Zionist regime with ten–ton bombs to be dropped on Gaza’s children, hospitals, people’s homes, in Lebanon, and wherever else they could.”
The Iranian leader’s comment was in reference to Israel’s war against Gaza’s Hamas, in which Israel claims that the terror group hides among civilian infrastructure, which is why the vast majority of the enclave has been destroyed.
The ayatollah went on to proclaim that Israel is the “source of corruption, war, and discord in this West Asia region.”
“The dangerous, deadly, cancerous tumor in West Asia must and will be eliminated,” Khamenei continued. “Due to the determination of the nations of the region, the US must and will leave West Asia.”
Meanwhile, President Trump condemned the Iranian regime while threatening to completely eliminate Iran’s oil exports.
“Iran’s leaders have focused on stealing their people’s wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad,” Trump stated on Tuesday.
Despite the hostility, Iran’s president stated that the nation is still willing to continue talks with the U.S. regarding Tehran’s nuclear program.
“We are negotiating, and we will negotiate, we are not after war but we do not fear any threat,” stated Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday.
“It is not like that they think if they threaten us, we will give up our human right and definite right,” he added. “We will not withdraw, we will not easily lose honorable military, scientific, nuclear in all fields.”
The Trump administration has repeatedly urged Iran to agree to a nuclear deal, or face potential military action.
Earlier this week during Trump’s visit to the Middle East, he explained to reporters that Iran must “move quickly” in the negotiations or “something bad’s gonna happen.”
Trump went on to state that Iran has “caused unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen and beyond.”
The two sides are reportedly working on details of a possible deal according to The Times of Israel, however, whether or not Iran will be able to continue enriching uranium remains a major point of contention in any potential deal.
The Trump administration has repeatedly stated that Iran can not be allowed to enrich uranium, to which Iranian leaders have repeatedly stated is a non-starter.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
