An Iranian official who has held senior government posts called for Turkey’s ambassador in Tehran to be summoned and claimed Iran chose not to harm US President Donald Trump during his visit to Ankara for a NATO summit because of relations with Turkey.
Ezzatollah Zarghami, a member of Iran’s Supreme Council of Cyberspace and a former minister of cultural heritage, made the remarks in a post on X on Wednesday, accusing Trump of issuing attack orders against Iran from Turkish soil.
“Summon the Turkish ambassador and warn him. The lunatic Trump is issuing orders to attack Iran from there,” Zarghami wrote, according to IranWire.
Zarghami also wrote that “the murderer of our martyred leader” had been within reach for retaliation but that Iran had refrained “out of respect for friendship and good neighborly relations,” referring to Turkey.
The reference appeared to be to slain former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, whose funeral ceremonies have featured calls for revenge against Trump and other US figures in recent days.
Threats from Iranian hardliners
The post came after Hamid Rasaei, a hardline member of Iran’s parliament, called for Trump’s location in Turkey to be targeted while he was in Ankara for the NATO summit, according to IranWire and Iran International.
Iran International reported that Rasaei wrote on the Iranian social media platform Virasty that Trump’s presence in Turkey created an opportunity to strike his place of residence.
IranWire also reported that Kayhan, a newspaper managed under the supervision of the representative of Iran’s leader, published a front page call for action against Trump. Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative at the Kayhan Institute, wrote an opinion column calling for Trump to be declared deserving of death, the outlet reported.
Saberin News, a Telegram channel linked to factions close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, later published a geolocation pin in Ankara and claimed to identify where Trump was staying, IranWire reported.
Fighting overshadows NATO summit
The threats followed a surge in tension between Washington and Tehran during the NATO summit, which Turkey hosted in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Trump said Wednesday that an interim memorandum of understanding with Iran to end the conflict was “over” and that he did not want to deal with Tehran. The agreement, mediated by Pakistan, was meant to give the parties 60 days to negotiate a permanent deal.
The United States had launched a new wave of strikes against Iran on Tuesday.
The Associated Press reported that Trump’s decision to authorize retaliatory strikes on Iran shortly after leaving a NATO leaders dinner was unusual because US military strikes are usually ordered while a president is close to home.
Trump later denied that security fears over Iran prompted a change in aircraft for part of his return trip from Turkey, but he told reporters he was “No. 1 on their list,” AP reported.