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Donald Trump; Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday asked Donald Trump to withdraw his “disrespectful and unacceptable” remarks on its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and asked the US president if he is “genuine about wanting a deal.“Also Read | ‘Ugly and ignominious death’: Trump’s 4-word description of what he saved Iran’s Khamenei from“If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, and stop hurting his millions of heartfelt followers,” Araghchi posted on X.

Araghchi tweet

The “deal” he mentioned relates to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, which was at the centre of the recent conflict between US ally Israel and Iran – their common rival. The hostilities began with Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military sites on June 13, ahead of fresh US-Iran talks over the latter’s nuclear programme.Also Read | ‘We would have taken him out’: Israeli defence minister confirms Khamenei’s elimination was on cardsMocking Israel, Araghchi said the Jewish State had “no choice but to run to daddy,’ a reference to Trump, who brokered a peace truce between the Asian rivals a day after the United States bombed three key Iranian nuclear sites.“The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had NO CHOICE but to RUN to ‘Daddy’ to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults. If Illusions lead to worse mistakes, Iran will not hesitate to unveil its Real Capabilities, which will certainly END any Delusion about the Power of Iran,” he wrote on social media.The 12-day war ended on June 23, a day after America’s Operation Midnight Hammer, which Iran retaliated to by launching missiles on a US air base in Qatar.

NEW DELHI: Alleging “blatant misuse” of agencies to defame its leaders, AAP on Thursday questioned why the first information report filed against former Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendar Jain was being kept under wraps and “selective” press notes were being leaked to the media.Bharadwaj, who is Delhi AAP convener, alleged that only two former ministers were named in the case without any reasonable cause while all the officers of the health and public works departments, who were actually responsible for executing the hospital projects, were spared. “Is the FIR so baseless that BJP fears it will become a national joke if released publicly?” AAP asked.The party issued a press statement saying the anti-corruption branch admitted in its own documents that the projects in question were sanctioned in 2017-18 and the health information management system was announced in 2016-17, much before Bharadwaj assumed office in 2023. “On June 24, 2025, LG Vinai Saxena issued a press note, and today, Delhi ACB head Madhur Verma also issued a press note to the media. The LG and ACB are deliberately withholding the FIR because it would expose the mockery of law being orchestrated by BJP govt,” Bharadwaj said, claiming that releasing the FIR to the media in criminal cases was a “standard practice”.Jain alleged that both the LG and the ACB head in their press notes mentioned different time periods when the projects were sanctioned. “There is, as yet, no evidence to suggest that these project sanctions were marred by corruption. Moreover, all these sanctions predate Saurabh Bharadwaj’s tenure. How can a minister be held liable for actions taken two to five years before assuming office? Is this some kind of joke?” Jain questioned.Bharadwaj claimed there was not a shred of evidence to suggest corruption in the announcement of the projects and the hospital management system, and holding him responsible for the alleged crimes was “beyond comprehension”.