--- description: Iran's Supreme Leader claims that Donald Trump's presidency supports Iranian criticisms of the U.S. title: Iran's Ayatollah Khameini: Trump Is 'Real Face' Of America image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd77c2db6a59644ef/6988b914428a9e4f26cd5c5f/gettyimages-607574916.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Iran](/tag/iran/) ## Iran Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Thanks Donald Trump for Showing America's 'Real Face' by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2017 11:30 AM CUT  Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps meeting in Tehran, Iran on Sept. 18, 2016. Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps meeting in Tehran, Iran on Sept. 18, 2016.Supreme Leader Press Office— Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Zamira Rahim](/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 7, 2017 11:30 AM CUT Iran’s Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Khamenei ](http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/21/irans-supreme-leader-fanatic-or-genius/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined")has said that Iranians are [“thankful” to President Donald Trump](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-iran-speech-idUSKBN15M0WE "undefined") for showing the “real face” of the U.S. The Iranian leader said that Trump’s campaign and presidency so far supported Iran’s views that there is “political, economic, moral and social corruption in the U.S. ruling system” _Reuters_ reports. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated since President Trump took office, with the new administration declaring that Iran is officially [“on notice” ](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/02/opinions/trump-iran-diplomatic-chips-andelman-opinion/ "undefined")for conducting a missile test. Iran is one of the seven predominately Muslim countries included in President Trump’s executive order restricting immigration. The remarks were made by Khamenei in a meeting with military commanders and quoted on his website. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-iran-speech-idUSKBN15M0WE "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4662325/ayatullah-khamenei-president-donald-trump-iran/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4662325/ayatullah-khamenei-president-donald-trump-iran/"},"headline":"Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Thanks Donald Trump for Showing America's 'Real Face'","datePublished":"2017-02-07T11:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:10:40.525Z","description":"Iran's Supreme Leader claims that Donald Trump's presidency supports Iranian criticisms of the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4662325/ayatullah-khamenei-president-donald-trump-iran/","keywords":["Iran","onetime","President Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd77c2db6a59644ef/6988b914428a9e4f26cd5c5f/gettyimages-607574916.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zamira Rahim","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd77c2db6a59644ef/6988b914428a9e4f26cd5c5f/gettyimages-607574916.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei","caption":"Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during an Islamic Revolution Guards Corps meeting in Tehran, Iran on Sept. 18, 2016.","creditText":"Supreme Leader Press Office— Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/iran/","name":"Iran"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4662325/ayatullah-khamenei-president-donald-trump-iran/","name":"Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei Thanks Donald Trump for Showing America's 'Real Face'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Trump Administration Puts Iran \"On Notice\"","description":"In the wake of an Iranian ballistic missile test and strikes by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, the White House is putting Iran \"on notice.\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PlcjkXZB/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-02-02T13:38:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PlcjkXZB.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4662325/ayatullah-khamenei-president-donald-trump-iran/","duration":"PT1M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4662325/ayatullah-khamenei-president-donald-trump-iran/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```