Iran’s Supreme Leader has used Donald Trump to launch another verbal attack on the US, amid rising tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Addressing air force personnel on Tuesday, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that Iran should be “thankful” to Trump for demonstrating the “political, economic, ethical, and social corruption” of the US via his “words and deeds during the election campaign and in recent days”.

The Supreme Leader used Trump’s “Muslim Ban”, attempting to block entry into the US by citizens of seven mainly-Muslim countries, to highlight his criticism. He noted the detention of travelers, including a child whose photgraph was widely circulated.

He continued, “Iranians are not afraid of threats…The Iranian nation will reply to [Trump’s] actions and threats on February 10″, the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Iranian regime cautiously welcomed Trump’s surprise victory in November as a change from the Obama Administration; however, its tone has been increasingly hostile, matching the Trump Administration’s declaration that “Iran is officially on notice” over its ballistic missile tests and support of groups such as Yemen’s Houthi insurgency.

See Iran Daily, Feb 4: Amid New US Sanctions, Tehran Stands By Missile Tests

Responding to Trump’s tweet that Iran “should have been thankful for the terrible [nuclear] deal the US made with them” Khamenei said:

“We are by no means thankful for [the Obama] Administration because it imposed heavy sanctions with the intent to cripple the Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment, an objective it did not achieve.

Why should we thank the previous American administration…. For creating ISIS? For setting the region on fire in Syria and Iraq?