U.S. Special Representative for Iran holds a briefing | USA TODAY

Brian Hook, U.S. Special Representative for Iran, holds a briefing on Iran at the State Department.

RELATED: Video shows two Iranian missiles hitting Ukrainian plane

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei called President Donald Trump a "clown" as he defended Iran's military after it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane, in a relatively rare public address that came as he led Friday prayers in Tehran.

The last time Khamanei delivered a sermon to a crowd during Friday prayers was in 2012, on the 33rd anniversary of Iran's Islamic Revolution. The supreme leader called for "national unity" and described Iran's accidental downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flights 752 as a "bitter" tragedy, but one that should not overshadow the "sacrifice" of a top commander killed in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq days earlier.

» Subscribe to USA TODAY:
» Watch more on this and other topics from USA TODAY:
» USA TODAY delivers current local and national news, sports, entertainment, finance, technology, and more through award-winning journalism, photos, videos and VR.

21 comments

  1. All I hear talk about is how much better the country is with all the money it is making. All Donald Trump really did was to roll back regulations so the greedy won’t get caught doing what they do. It takes a real genius to figure this out.

  2. Hello my name is anmol Singh how are you American soldiers god bless you 🇺🇸 i love American peoples and soldiers 🇺🇸 all world powerful country is America 🇺🇸 my life style is America 🇺🇸 my mother land is America 🇺🇸 God bless you America 🇺🇸 you are dear anmol Singh i am a real American anmol Singh 🇺🇸 i love American soldiers 🇺🇸

  3. عارف قزوینی: چنان عشقی به ایران دارم که بهشت را با زره ای ایران عوض نمیکنم
    🇮🇷 🌷 🇮🇷 🌷

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.