A senior Iranian conservative on Thursday said former U.S. president Donald Trump could be killed by a drone while relaxing at his Mar-a-Lago estate, the latest rhetorical threat to follow Washington’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a former adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told the London-based outlet Iran International that Trump had made himself a permanent target. “As he lies there with his belly to the sun, a small drone can hit him in the navel. It’s very simple,” Larijani said.
Asked about the remarks during a Fox News interview, Trump laughed them off. “I guess it’s a threat,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I went sunbathing.”
Larijani’s comments come two weeks after U.S. forces struck three Iranian nuclear facilities in response to the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. Iranian clerics and state media have since urged retaliation against both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An online crowd-funding campaign called “Blood Pact” claims to have raised more than $40 million for anyone who helps avenge what it calls insults to Khamenei. President Masoud Pezeshkian has tried to distance his government from the initiative, telling U.S. commentator Tucker Carlson that it “has nothing to do with the Iranian state.”
Despite the heated rhetoric, indirect U.S.–Iran talks are due to resume this week in Norway. Trump said on Monday that he would “like to lift sanctions on Iran at some point,” hinting at economic incentives for a broader deal. Tehran, meanwhile, insists key nuclear material was moved to undisclosed sites before the recent U.S. strikes.
