Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has launched an extraordinary attack on the Trump administration, saying “first-class idiots” are in charge of making U.S. government policy. In a strongly worded statement against U.S. sanctions on Iran, Khamenei said the economic measures are placing “unprecedented” pressure on his country. Last year, Trump pulled out of an international pact on Iran’s nuclear program and re-imposed sanctions intended to disrupt the country’s oil exports, missile programs, and influence in the Middle East. “The sanctions do put pressure on the country and the people,” Khamenei said Wednesday, adding: “The Americans happily say that these sanctions are unprecedented in history. Yes, they’re unprecedented. And the defeat that the Americans will face will be unprecedented, God willing.” The angry statement went on to lambast Trump administration officials for their approach to Iran, with the supreme leader saying: “They are first-class idiots.”
