Iranian Leaders Criticize Trump's Comments on Middle East Visit

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Political and military leaders in Iran have scrutinized the statements made by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, during his first visit to the Middle East. In his address to a group of teachers gathered for a state ceremony, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that some of Trump's comments were not even worthy of a response.

"The level of speech was so low that it is a disgrace to the person who uttered it and a disgrace to the American nation," said Khamenei in Tehran on Saturday, May 17, 2025. The speech was followed by chants of "Death to America" and other shouts from the crowd.

As reported by Al Jazeera, Khamenei spread the word that Trump was "lying" when he said he wanted to use his power to achieve peace. According to Khamenei, Washington had supported the "massacre" of Palestinians and others throughout the region. He referred to Israel as a "dangerous cancerous tumor" that needed to be "removed".

In response, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also told a group of naval officers last Saturday that Trump conveyed a message of peace while threatening destruction at the same time by supporting genocide in Gaza.

"Which of the president's words should we believe? His message about peace, or his message about the massacre of human beings?" Pezeshkian said, indicating that Trump's approval of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was internationally criticized.

The statement came after Trump used his Middle East tour - where he signed major agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates - to praise Arab leaders neighboring Iran and condemn leaders in Tehran.

Trump told the Arab leaders that they were building their infrastructure while the "landmarks of Iran are collapsing into rubble" after its theocratic institution replaced the monarchy in the 1979 revolution.

Trump assessed that the leaders of Iran had "successfully turned green farmland into arid deserts" as a result of corruption and mismanagement. He also mentioned that Iranians experience power outages for several hours a day.

According to Iranian authorities, power outages, caused by years-long energy crises that have harmed Iran's already burdened economy, are expected to continue until the end of this year.

The largest associations of mining, steel, and cement industries in Iran wrote a joint letter to Pezeshkian last Saturday. They urged a review of the 90 percent power usage restrictions imposed on vital sectors.

Trump, who praised temporary President Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa and lifted sanctions on Damascus, also targeted Iran's regional policies.

He described Tehran's support for the fallen President Bashar al-Assad's government as the cause of "suffering and death" and regional instability.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the US president's statement as "deceptive," telling government media last Friday that the US was impeding Iran through sanctions and military threats. He also mentioned that Trump supported Israel and attacked Syria.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who spoke at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) conference in Indonesia, said Trump's statements show that he is "living in delusion".

Hossein Salami, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), spoke directly to Trump last Friday. He said Iran has beautiful historic buildings. "We are proud of the enhancement of character, identity, culture, and Islam," he said.

The sharp rhetoric in response to Trump's recent controversial comments emerged just days after Trump said that he might soon refer to the "Persian Gulf" as the "Arabian Gulf".

This has angered the Iranian people as a whole, sparking criticism of any effort to change the name of the major waterway from ordinary citizens in the virtual world, authorities, local media, and some pro-Trump Iranians abroad who have advocated US sanctions and regime change.

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