Iran fires back at Trump following blistering State of the Union speech

“Professional liars are good at creating the illusion of truth,” Baqaei wrote.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s Foreign Ministry lashed out at President Donald Trump following his State of the Union address Tuesday night, accusing Washington and Israel of spreading propaganda and falsehoods about the Islamic Republic.

In a sharply worded post on X, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei wrote that “professional liars are good at creating the illusion of truth,” adding that repeating claims about Iran’s actions is part of a coordinated disinformation campaign.

He further accused the United States and what he described as the “genocidal Israeli regime” of promoting “big lies” regarding Iran’s nuclear program, missile development, and the regime’s handling of recent domestic unrest.

The response came hours after Trump delivered a blistering assessment of Tehran during his address, portraying the Iranian regime as a central driver of instability and violence across the Middle East.

“The regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate,” Trump said, arguing that Iran’s leadership has fueled decades of regional conflict since taking power 47 years ago.

Trump also blamed Iran for attacks that killed American service members, describing Iranian-backed militias as pioneers of roadside bomb warfare targeting U.S. forces.

He pointed to the 2020 U.S. operation that killed IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani as a turning point in confronting Tehran’s military strategy.

“He was the father of the roadside bomb,” Trump said. “We took out Soleimani during my first term, and it had a huge impact.”

A major focus of Trump’s remarks centered on the Iranian government’s crackdown on recent protests. The president claimed the regime had killed at least 32,000 demonstrators.

“Over the last couple of months with the protests, they’ve killed at least, it looks like, 32,000 protesters in their own country,” Trump said. “They shot them and hung them. This is some terrible people.”

Iranian officials strongly rejected those accusations, arguing that casualty figures cited by Washington are fabricated or exaggerated.

Baqaei’s statement insisted allegations surrounding protest deaths and Iran’s military programs are examples of repeated false narratives intended to justify pressure on Tehran.

Estimates of the death toll, however, vary widely and remain difficult to independently verify.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), an organization that tracks repression inside Iran, reports that more than 6,000 deaths have been confirmed, with an additional 17,000 cases still under investigation.

By contrast, an Iranian government figure reported by Al Jazeera placed the total number of deaths at 3,117, a number that includes members of government security forces allegedly killed during unrest.

Trump cited the same higher estimate last week during a White House press briefing, expressing sympathy for the Iranian public while condemning the regime’s actions.

“It’s a very, very sad situation. But 32,000 people were killed over a relatively short period of time,” he said. “I feel very badly for the people of Iran. They’ve lived in hell.”

Determining the true scale of casualties remains challenging because of strict government control over information, widespread repression of journalists, and prolonged internet blackouts imposed during the height of the crackdown.

The escalating war of words comes as diplomatic efforts appear to be entering a critical phase. U.S. and Iranian negotiators are scheduled to meet Thursday in what officials describe as a possible last attempt to revive negotiations surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.

Those talks are unfolding against the backdrop of a massive American military buildup across the region.

U.S. naval forces, additional air assets, and expanded deployments have been repositioned throughout the Middle East in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, a squadron of U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighters landed at Ovda Airbase in southern Israel, a rare deployment widely viewed by defense analysts as a signal of heightened operational readiness.

With diplomacy continuing alongside visible military preparations, tensions between Washington and Tehran appear to be entering a decisive period as both sides harden their rhetoric while simultaneously positioning for rapidly shifting outcomes on the ground.