From: The Times of Israel May 17, 2025
Khamenei: Trump lies about bringing peace to region; Israel a ‘cancerous tumor’

Iranian supreme leader says Jewish state must be ‘uprooted,’ US driven from the region;
Iranian president says nuclear talks to continue despite American threats.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said US President Donald Trump was lying about his intentions for the region, and once again called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that must be uprooted.

In his first reaction to Trump’s regional visit, Khamenei said Trump wasn’t truthful when he made claims about creating peace through power and said the Americans must be ousted from the region. “Trump said that he wanted to use power for peace, he lied.

He and the US administration used power for the massacre in Gaza, for waging wars in any place they could,” Khamenei said Saturday during a meeting with teachers broadcast on state television.

Khamenei claimed:
The US has provided Israel with 10-ton bombs to “drop on Gaza children, hospitals, houses of people in Lebanon and anywhere else when they can,” .

Khamenei, who has the final say on all Iranian state matters, reiterated his traditional stance, calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.

“Definitely, the Zionist regime is the source of corruption, war, and rifts.
The Zionist regime that is a lethal, dangerous, cancerous tumor should certainly be eradicated, and it will be.”

Beyond repeatedly calling for Israel’s destruction, Iran has pumped billions of dollars into funding proxy terror groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemen’s Houthis that threaten and attack Israel.