Iran state TV broadcasts Trump threat with picture of Butler assassination attempt: ‘This time it won’t miss’

Iranian state TV aired footage of an ominous threat to Donald Trump, after the US president threatened to take military action against the ayatollah’s regime.

A mourner at a ceremony for Iranian security forces killed in the recent unrest held up a sign with a picture of Trump after he narrowly survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024.

The writing in Farsi underneath warned: “This time it won’t miss.”

The footage was broadcast on the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) channel, a state-controlled network in Iran. IRINN could not be reached for comment.

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The event outside Tehran University was organised by regime allies and broadcast within Iran, according to the AFP news agency. There were also banners reading “Death to America” on show, Newsweek reported.

Military personnel stood alongside coffins on floats paraded through the city as mourners followed the procession, waving flags and pictures of the Ayatollah Khamenei.

Some signs read “Down with U.S.A.” and “Down with Israel” in both English and Farsi.

The semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said that the funeral would be the first among many state funerals held for security forces in the coming days.

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Rights groups outside of Iran have reported that more than 150 security and government forces have been killed in more than two weeks of unrest. Iran has framed violence as the work of rioters provoked by the US and Israel.

The US-based HRANA rights group said on Wednesday that more than 2,600 protesters have been killed, including 13 children under the age of 18. Iran has also broadcast more than 100 forced confessions, it said.

Reporting on casualties has been hampered by Iran’s efforts to block internet access and limit information coming out of the country since 8 January, when anti-government demonstrations are believed to have peaked.

The regime eased some restrictions on Tuesday as Iranians were able to make calls abroad for the first time in days. People outside the country were unable to call in.

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People inside the country said on Wednesday and Thursday that the protests appear to have abated since Monday.

The White House still did not rule out future strikes on Wednesday, but held off as Iran insisted it was not going to execute protesters.

Trump, speaking at the White House, said he has been told that killings in the crackdown were subsiding. Asked who told him that the killings had stopped, Trump described them as “very important sources on the other side”.

Trump said it is possible the government in Tehran could fall due to the protests, but added that in truth “any regime can fail”.

“Whether or not it falls or not, it's going to be an interesting period of time,” he added.