A large billboard threatening to unalive US President Donald Trump was unveiled in Tehran on Tuesday, alongside banners carrying similar messages across the Iranian capital.
The billboard in Enghelab Square depicted Trump behind bars with his head bowed and carried a message pledging to unalive him. It marked a further escalation in the rhetoric displayed in Tehran, where billboards mocking Trump and demanding revenge have appeared regularly since the war began on February 28.
The conflict opened with US-Israeli strikes that unalived Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The latest displays came amid renewed diplomatic efforts to bring Tehran and Washington into negotiations and prevent further fighting in a conflict that has spread across the region and contributed to rising prices worldwide.
Trump, whose party faces crucial US midterm elections on Tuesday, has said an agreement with Iran “could happen”. The war has contributed to voter dissatisfaction ahead of the elections. In Tajrish Square in northern Tehran, an open-air exhibition featured paintings attacking the US president, including violent imagery portraying him injured and humiliated.
Another painting showed a bomb covering his face, apparently referencing Belgian surrealist René Magritte’s 1964 work, The Son of Man. A life-sized replica of a prison cell also remained on display nearby, with an actor impersonating Trump spending the day inside. An adjoining screen showed images of damage caused by US strikes on Iran.
Tehran has accused Trump of deliberately targeting civilian locations during the war, including a school and a wedding ceremony, resulting in dozens of fatalities, including women and children. Those accusations were not independently established in the report.
State-sponsored billboards and murals have been a prominent feature of Iranian public spaces since the 1979 Islamic revolution. They are used to commemorate allies, honour military figures and communicate political messages, particularly towards the United States and Israel.
