Iran has intensified its threats against U.S. President Donald Trump by installing gigantic billboards and signs throughout Tehran proclaiming they will kill the U.S. leader, even as diplomatic efforts to revive talks between the two countries continue amid a war affecting the region and the global economy.
On Tuesday, Iran unveiled enormous billboards and signs across Tehran pledging to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump, marking a formal escalation of threatening rhetoric displayed openly in the Iranian capital.
A giant billboard towering above Enghelab Square, a busy central area in Tehran, reads "We will kill Trump" alongside an image of the U.S. president behind bars, head bowed down.
Since the conflict began on 28 February, when U.S. and Israeli attacks killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, new billboards and exhibitions mocking Trump and vowing revenge have been continuously installed throughout Tehran.
In recent days, renewed diplomatic efforts are underway to encourage Iran and the U.S. to return to the negotiating table and prevent a resurgence of fighting after the war expanded across the region and caused global commodity prices to rise.
Trump, facing a crucial U.S. midterm election amid some voter dissatisfaction over the war's effects, said that a deal between the two countries "could happen."
At Tajrish Square in northern Tehran, a bustling area, an outdoor exhibition displays several paintings of Trump, including one where his face is bloodied and pressed against the ground with a foot stomping on his head.
Another image shows a bomb obscuring Trump's face, seemingly referencing the 1964 surrealist painting "The Son of Man" by Belgian artist René Magritte.
Nearby, a life-sized prison cell replica is on display, with an actor portraying Trump spending the day inside while screens beside the cell show footage of damage caused by U.S. attacks on Iran.
The Iranian government accuses Trump of deliberately targeting civilian sites during the war, including schools and wedding ceremonies, resulting in dozens of deaths, including women and children.
State-sponsored billboards and murals have been a consistent feature in Iranian public spaces since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, used to honor allies, celebrate military figures, and send political messages to opponents, especially the U.S. and Israel.
. AFP