Iranian troops shown abducting Trump, Netanyahu lookalikes in viral video
A screengrab from the viral video of Trump's mock arrest
A video shared on social media by the supporters of the Islamic Republic purportedly depicts Iranian military forces bundling figures resembling Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu onto the back of a pickup truck labeled Trash Bin of History.
A figure in the video wearing a yellow wig likely portraying Trump was shown being thrown to the ground before the mock abduction.
The display features a parade of motorcyclists and individuals in military attire carrying weapons and the vehicle's license plate and surroundings suggest it was filmed in Mazandaran province, north of Tehran.
“The clip was part of a spontaneous public theater performance held last week as a prelude to a memorial ceremony for martyrs," IRGC affiliated Fars News reported on Friday, "without any affiliation to official institutions or organizations."
A rare note of official caution from the hardline outlet, the remarks appeared aimed at distancing Tehran from any threat to the US President.
Over 2,000 Iranian clerics including several senior officials called the shedding of Donald Trump’s blood religiously permissible, essentially endorsing his assassination, in a sharp escalation of official rhetoric in the theocracy against the US president.
“The era of revolutionary restraint and patience has ended and henceforth, Trump's blood and wealth are halal and avenging Soleimani's blood is obligatory for every Muslim and freedom-loving man and woman,” according to a statement released Friday by the Qom seminary’s press office.
Trump authorized the 2020 killing of senior Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike.
Signatories ranged from junior seminarians to among the most prominent clerics in the country.
“The blood and property of this savage criminal are halal,” the statement said. “The nations will not remain silent. Retaliation is coming.”
The signatories include Tehran’s Friday prayer leader Ahmad Khatami, Expediency Council member Mohsen Araki, and Guardian Council member Mehdi Shabzendedar — all appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — as well as Alireza Arafi, the vice-president of Iran's Assembly of Experts and also a member of the Guardian Council.
During a 12-day war with Israel in June, several senior clerics in Iran called for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing their threats to assassinate Khamenei during the conflict.
“Any regime or individual threatening the leaders of the Islamic Ummah (nation) and acting on those threats qualifies as a mohareb (warrior against God)," Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi said.
Under Shi'ite jurisprudence, the declaration of mohareb and the issuance of a fatwa make it religiously obligatory for devout Shiite Muslims to act.
The United States has advised citizens against traveling to Iran citing what it called escalating paranoia and an unprecedented crackdown on alleged spies and opponents following a 12-day war with Israel.
"The Iranian regime, following the 12-day war with Israel, is in the midst of unprecedented paranoia and a crackdown on spies and regime opponents," the State Department said in a post on its Persian X account USA Beh Farsi.
"Anyone considering travel to Iran should reconsider their decision. We repeat: US citizens should not travel to Iran!" the post reads.
Iran recently arrested two American Jewish citizens on suspicion of spying for Israel in the aftermath of the recent 12-day war, Israel's Channel 11 reported.
One of the two detainees, identified by HRANA as 70-year-old Yehuda Hekmati, remains in detention.
Hekmati, a jeweler with ties to New York, allegedly drew the attention of the Islamic Republic due to a trip he made to Israel seven years ago.
The second detainee, an Iranian-American resident of Los Angeles, has been released on bail.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to comment on the case Tuesday, saying only that she hopes she would be able to speak about it soon.
The State Department has repeatedly warned that Americans, including dual nationals, risk wrongful detention in Iran.
The department's website says: "Americans, including Iranian-Americans and other dual nationals, have been wrongfully detained, taken hostage by the Iranian government for months, and years."
Israel’s Channel 11 quoted a source involved in the American detainees’ case as saying, “These two Americans were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Air pollution caused an estimated 6,000 deaths in Tehran last year, while the city has recorded just six clean-air days since the start of the current Iranian year in March, Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company said on Friday.
“From late March to early August, Tehran had only six clean-air days,” the agency said. Other days ranged from moderate to very unhealthy, with at least three classified as hazardous.
The report comes as concerns grow over the government’s energy strategy and its environmental impact. In recent weeks, Iranian officials have confirmed that fuel oil, which is one of the most polluting fuels available, is once again being widely used to generate electricity amid power shortages.
“All power plants across the country used fuel oil at full capacity last year,” Saeed Tavakoli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, said this week. He said the practice continued despite public claims that the administration prioritized environmental protection.
Tejarat News, an economic daily, criticized the government for quietly resuming the use of mazut, a low-grade fuel, after ordering a temporary halt in several cities last winter. “Fuel oil burning is no longer an emergency fix. It has become a systemic policy reflecting the collapse of energy planning,” it wrote in an editorial this week.
Pollution tied to tens of thousands of deaths nationwide
In May, Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi said Iran sees an estimated 50,000 deaths annually linked to air pollution. “Some countries have solved this issue, but we still have a long way to go,” he said.
Experts say the crisis is worsened by fragmented authority and limited enforcement. Though 23 government bodies have mandates to reduce pollution, analysts say most lack the power or resources to implement meaningful change.
“Laws stay on paper, and there is neither enough funding nor executive power to carry them out,” Mohammadreza Tavakkolian, an urban planning expert, told state media on Friday.
Calls to ban old vehicles, invest in cleaner energy, and empower a central environmental authority have so far gone unanswered. Critics warn that without systemic change, Tehran and other major cities will continue to suffer both in air quality and human lives.
Israel is pulling most diplomatic staff from the United Arab Emirates, Israeli media reported Thursday, after the National Security Council warned of threats from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups.
“We are emphasizing this travel warning given our understanding that terrorist organizations (the Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah and Global Jihad) are increasing their efforts to harm Israel,” the NSC said in its updated guidance, which reiterated a level-3 travel alert for the UAE.
The council linked the threat to what it called revenge motives following Israel’s June military operation against Iran, as well as broader anti-Israel incitement. It advised Israelis to avoid non-essential travel and warned of possible attacks especially around Jewish holidays and Shabbat.
There was no official confirmation from the Israeli foreign ministry, but media outlets said the decision to withdraw diplomatic personnel followed internal assessments of the growing threat environment.
While the NSC did not mention a specific plot, it noted that hostile actors have historically focused operations in nearby countries. The UAE, which formalized ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, hosts a growing Israeli and Jewish community.
In a separate case earlier this year, three men were sentenced to death in the UAE for the November killing of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi, a rare act of political violence in a country often seen as one of the region’s most secure.
The NSC advised Israelis abroad to remain alert, avoid identifying symbols in public, and coordinate closely with local authorities if they suspect any danger.
The United States dismissed Iran’s demand for financial compensation over the June strikes on its nuclear sites, calling it "ridiculous" and urging Tehran to end destabilizing actions.
“Any demands for financial compensation from the United States to the Iranian regime are ridiculous,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said at a press briefing in Washington on Thursday. “If the Iranian regime really wanted to save money, they would stop funding terrorist death squads, stop oppressing their own people, and stop wasting money on a nuclear program that isolates them further.”
The comments came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Financial Times that Tehran would not return to nuclear negotiations unless Washington accepted responsibility for the attacks and offered compensation.
Ball is in Iran’s court, US says
Pigott said the United States remains open to diplomacy but warned that Tehran has limited time. “Iran has a short window of opportunity, but the ball is in Iran’s court,” he said. “We’re waiting to see what they do.”
Araghchi had said talks with the US could not proceed without “confidence-building measures,” including financial redress and guarantees against future strikes. He also confirmed that a third enrichment site near Isfahan was hit during the war, the first time Tehran has publicly acknowledged the attack.
Talks remain on hold as tensions linger
The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan days before a ceasefire in June, citing threats from Tehran’s nuclear escalation. Iran suspended cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency shortly after, though technical talks with the IAEA are expected in the coming weeks.
Araghchi said Iran and the US exchanged messages before, during and after the war but added that the “road to negotiation is narrow.” He also warned that any European move to restore UN sanctions under the 2015 nuclear deal would end Iran’s talks with the UK, France and Germany.
“With the Europeans, there is no reason right now to negotiate,” he said. “They cannot lift sanctions, they cannot do anything.”
