The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted out what seemed to be a picture of President Obama with a gun to his head, along with a clear warning to the United States that basically said: Don't go to war with us.
The picture was a meme that included a shadow outline of what appeared to be Obama's head, with his arm raised up, pointing a gun directly into his ear.
The accompanying text read: "We welcome no war, nor do we initiate any war, but if any war happens, the one who will emerge loser will be the aggressive and criminal U.S."
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The message was signed by "Ayatollah Khamenei," USA Today first found.
A similar warning was also contained in a separate tweet from the account of Khamenei.ir, sent out July 18, but without the accompanying picture.
Those tweets read: "US pres. said he could knock out Irans army. Of course we neither welcome, nor begin war, but in case of war, US will leave it disgraced." USA Today said the twitter account hasn't been verified as belonging to Khamenei, but most intelligence officials believe it does.
The messages come just as Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, called for regional peace during a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Kuwait.
"Any threat to one country is a threat to all," he said. "No country can solve regional problems without the help of others."
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