DUBAI (REUTERS) – The Twitter account of Iran’s Supreme Leader on Friday (Jan 22) carried the image of a golfer resembling former US President Donald Trump apparently being targeted by a drone, vowing revenge over the killing of a top Iranian general in a US drone attack.

The post carried the text of remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in December, in which he said “Revenge is certain”, renewing a vow of vengeance ahead of the first anniversary of the killing of top military commander General Qassem Soleimani in the attack in Iraq.

“Those who ordered the murder of General Soleimani as well as those who carried this out should be punished. This revenge will certainly happen at the right time,” Mr Khamenei tweeted on Dec 16, without naming Mr Trump, who had ordered the strike.

Earlier this month, Twitter removed a tweet by Mr Khamenei in which he said US and British-made vaccines were unreliable and may be intended to “contaminate other nations”.

The platform said the tweet violated its rules against misinformation.

There was no apparent immediate action by Twitter over the Persian-language tweet on Friday by Mr Khamenei, Iran’s highest authority.

Tensions rapidly grew between Teheran and Washington since 2018, when Mr Trump exited a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers that sought to curb Teheran’s nuclear programme.

Washington reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

Iran called for action and “not just words” shortly after Mr Joe Biden was sworn in as US president on Wednesday.

Mr Biden has said Washington will rejoin the nuclear deal if Iran resumes strict compliance.

More on this topic

Join ST’s Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Source: Read Full Article