US president Donald Trump said Friday he had saved Iran鈥檚 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from assassination and lashed out at the supreme leader for ingratitude, declaring he would order more bombing if the country tried to pursue nuclear weapons.
In an extraordinary outburst on his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Tehran for claiming to have won its war with Israel and said he was halting work on possible sanctions relief.
Trump said the United States would bomb Iran again 鈥榳ithout question鈥� if intelligence indicated it was able to enrich uranium to military grade.
Trump accused the Iranian leader of ingratitude after Khamenei said in a defiant message that reports of damage to nuclear facilities were exaggerated and that Tehran had dealt Washington a聽 鈥榮lap鈥� in the face.
鈥業 knew exactly where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the US armed forces, by far the greatest and most powerful in the world, terminate his life,鈥� Trump posted.
鈥業 saved him from a very ugly and ignominious death, and he does not have to say, 鈥楾hank you, president Trump!鈥欌��
Iran held a state funeral Saturday for some 60 scientists and commanders killed in its war with Israel, after its top diplomat condemned the latest White House tirade against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
State television aired footage of thousands of black-clad mourners chanting 鈥楧eath to America鈥� and 鈥楧eath to Israel鈥� as they held aloft photographs of the dead.
鈥楤oom, boom, Tel Aviv,鈥� read one banner, referring to the retaliatory missile fire launched by Iran against Israel during their 12-day war.
State television showed mock-ups of ballistic missiles like those Iran fired at Israel alongside coffins draped in Iranian flags.
President Masoud Pezeshkian attended the ceremony as did Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei who used a walking cane after being wounded in an Israeli strike in the war, the television images showed.
But the supreme leader himself stayed away. Khamenei had delivered a video address on Thursday to proclaim 鈥榲ictory鈥� in the conflict which ended with a truce earlier this week.
As the funeral procession wound its way across the sprawling metropolis, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi paid tribute to the war effort in a post on his Instagram account.
Among the dead was armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri, who will be buried with his wife and journalist daughter who were killed alongside him.
Nuclear scientist Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, also killed in the attacks, will be laid to rest with his wife.
Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami, killed on the first day of the war, will be buried on Sunday.
Of the 60 people who are to be laid to rest after the ceremony, four are children and four are women.
Meanwhile, Iran has expanded access to its airspace for international overflights following a ceasefire with Israel, though flight restrictions remain in place across much of the country, an official said Saturday.
鈥業n addition to the eastern half of the country鈥檚 airspace being available for domestic, international and overflight operations, the airspace over the central and western parts of the country has now also been opened only for international overflights,鈥� Majid Akhavan, spokesman for the ministry of roads and urban development, said in a statement carried by the IRNA state news agency.
Flights to and from airports in the north, south and west of the country, including Tehran鈥檚 Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, remained suspended, according to Akhavan.
Trump said that he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran鈥檚 main demands.
Iran has denied it is set to resume nuclear talks with the United States, after Trump said that negotiations were set to begin again next week.