A chilling message aired on Iranian state television this week has escalated already volatile tensions between Tehran and Washington, placing President Donald Trump directly in the crosshairs.
According to the New York Post, during a broadcast on Wednesday, Iranian state-run TV displayed an image of Trump taken from the 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he survived an assassination attempt.
Superimposed over the image was a Persian-language warning translated as, “This time it will not miss the target.” Agence France Presse first reported the broadcast.
The message marks the most explicit threat yet from Iran against Trump, coming amid mounting unrest inside the country and growing international scrutiny of Tehran’s response.
A screenshot shared by journalist Emily Schrader showed a split-screen broadcast, with a crowd scene on one side and a photo of Trump on the other alongside the threatening message.
The imagery immediately drew alarm due to its reference to a real-life attempt on the president’s life.
Trump was wounded during the Butler rally when a gunman, later identified as Thomas Crooks, fired shots that struck Trump in the ear. The attack shocked the nation and became one of the defining moments of the 2024 presidential campaign.
Iran has previously issued threats against Trump.
In 2022, the regime released a video depicting a simulated assassination attempt targeting Trump at his Mar-a-Lago golf course, months before the 2024 election. That video resurfaced after the arrest of Ryan Routh, who was taken into custody while allegedly attempting to target Trump at the same golf course.
The latest broadcast coincided with large pro-government rallies inside Iran. Footage from those demonstrations showed crowds waving signs hostile to Trump and chanting, “Death to America!” while voicing loyalty to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Those rallies come as Iran faces widespread anti-government protests that began Dec. 28, driven largely by economic collapse and public anger toward the ruling regime. Demonstrations have continued despite a sweeping crackdown.
According to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, more than 2,500 people have been killed since the protests began, with thousands more arrested. Iranian authorities have disputed such figures while restricting access to information and foreign media.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have intensified as the unrest continues. Trump has warned that military action remains an option in response to Iran’s actions against protesters.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, have threatened retaliation, saying they would strike American troops in the region and even Israel if the United States launches an attack.
The state television broadcast has further heightened concerns that the confrontation between Iran and the U.S. is entering a more dangerous phase, with rhetoric now turning unmistakably personal.
