Iran's Khamenei criticizes 'clown' Trump in rare Friday prayers sermon

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led Friday prayers at the Mosella mosque in Tehran on Friday for the first time since 2012, trying to rally support among intertwined crises facing his government. Khamenei, 80, called Iran's downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet last week a "bitter accident" and claimed "our enemies were as happy about the plane crash as we were sad" because it allowed them to criticize his government. He called President Trump a "clown" who is only pretending to support Iran's people, said the U.S. killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani 'cowardly" and demonstrative of America's "terrorist nature," and called Iran's retaliatory missile strikes a "slap on the face" to the U.S. that "shows the hand of God" and Iran's "power."

Source: Reuters, The Associated Press