‘You have no honor’: Iran hits back at Trump’s ‘one shot’ remark on Khamenei funeral

WASHINGTON, DC: The war of words between Iran and Donald Trump has flared up again, with the nation refusing to let the president's "one shot" threat made during the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei go unanswered.

Speaking to Axios, the 80-year-old said he was surprised to see thousands of Iranians mourning Khamenei, whom he claimed was killed in a joint US-Israeli operation on the first day of the conflict.

"I thought people hated Khamenei. Maybe it's fake tears," Trump said after watching footage of mourners grieving during the funeral ceremonies.

He further claimed that, with Iran's top leadership gathered in one place for the funeral, Washington could eliminate them all with "one shot."

"But we are not going to do that because then we would have nobody to negotiate with,” he added.

Iran tells Trump 'people can be killed, but ideals cannot'

Iran swiftly pushed back against Trump's remarks, with its embassy in Armenia issuing a strongly worded response on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, July 5, condemning both the US president and Washington.

In the post, the embassy said the US, which celebrated the 250th anniversary of its independence on Saturday, could never understand the scale of public mourning for Khamenei because it "neither has civilisation, history, nor honor."

"People can be killed, but ideals cannot. You killed Ayatollah Khamenei, but in reality, you broke a perfume bottle whose scent spread everywhere,” the post read.

“You don't understand these things because you have neither civilisation, nor history, nor honor,” it continued, pointing to the huge crowds that gathered for the late leader's funeral.

The funeral ceremonies for Khamenei began on Friday and are expected to continue for several days. Authorities shut down major roads, closed sections of the airspace, and brought much of Tehran to a standstill as thousands gathered to pay their respects to the slain supreme leader.

Sunday was declared a public holiday across Iran as the nation continued to mourn. Later in the day, Khamenei's body was scheduled to be moved from the Grand Mosalla complex, where it had been lying in state, ahead of funeral processions through the capital on Monday.

Khamenei's coffin, draped in the Iranian flag with his black turban resting on top, was displayed alongside the coffins of four family members who were also killed in the February strikes, including his infant granddaughter.

Trump says Iran is ‘dying for deal’

Iran’s vehement pushback came after Trump, speaking at Mount Rushmore on the eve of Independence Day during the opening weekend of the country's 250th anniversary celebrations, said Tehran is now eager to negotiate following the conflict.

"They're dying to settle," Trump said, adding that the US has granted Iran "a week off for a funeral because we're nice," a reference to the state funeral for Khamenei.

The commander-in-chief also boasted about the US military's role in the war, saying Washington has "knocked the hell out of Iran".

He then went on to claim that the US has built "the strongest and most powerful military" in the world, claiming it won two world wars and consigned Cold War adversaries "to the depths of history."