'This time bullet will not miss': Iranian TV airs warning with Trump image

Iranian TV broadcast a Trump rally shooting image with a warning as US-Iran tensions rose over protests, military threats and reports of killings in Iran

Amid the ongoing tension between Washington and Tehran, Iranian state television aired footage of President Donald Trump from a July 2024 rally where he was injured by a bullet.

 

The broadcast showed Trump at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally, alongside the message: "This time it (the bullet) will not miss the target," according to a report by news agency AFP.

 

The warning was widely seen as a direct reference to the Butler rally shooting, where Trump was grazed by a bullet during a pre-election speech. Iranian television paired the threat with a still image from that moment.

Trump comments on protests, killings in Iran

 

Trump said on Wednesday that Iran appeared to have stopped killing protesters, though he did not explain what that might mean for possible US military action.

 

"We've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping -- it's stopped -- it's stopping," he told reporters at the White House. "And there's no plan for executions, or an execution, or execution -- so I've been told that on good authority."

 

Trump said the information came from "very important sources on the other side" but did not name them. He added that he would later verify whether the claims were true. 

Warning of strong US response

 

In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Trump warned that the US would respond forcefully if Iran stepped up its actions against protesters.

 

"We will take very strong action if they do such a thing," Trump said, referring to reports of executions. "When they start killing thousands of people -- and now you’re telling me about hanging -- we’ll see how that’s going to work out for them."

 

He also urged Iranians to continue protesting and take control of institutions, saying that "help is on the way".

Iran warns neighbours hosting US troops

Tehran has warned neighbouring countries that host US forces that they would face retaliation if Washington intervenes in Iran. Three diplomats told Reuters some personnel had been advised to leave a major US air base in the region. However, there were no immediate signs of a large-scale troop evacuation like the one seen before an Iranian missile attack last year.

 

Trump has earlier threatened to intervene in support of protesters in Iran.

 

A rights group has said that around 2,600 people have been killed in recent days during a crackdown on what it described as one of the largest protest movements against clerical rule in the country’s history.

 

(With agency inputs)