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Iranian commander killed in airstrike taunted Trump in a 2018 speech, calling him a 'bartender' and 'casino manager'

Jan 4, 2020, 22:08 IST
The Middle East Media Research Institute
  • President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike on Friday which killed Qassem Soleimani, arguably the top military figure in Iran.
  • The airstrike comes less than two years after Soleimani degraded Trump in a speech, calling him a "bartender" and a "casino manager."
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In the wake of the US airstrike that killed Iran's top general, a video has resurfaced of Qassem Soleimani giving a speech in which he likened President Donald Trump to a "bartender or a casino manager."

Soleimani gave the speech in July 2018, in response to Trump accusing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani of making "demented words of violence and death." Trump cautioned Rouhani from threatening the US, saying they would "suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before."

Soleimani responded by giving a speech three days later in the city of Hamedan, Iran, calling Trump's tweet "idiotic," according to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute TV Monitor Project.

He goes on to say that even though Trump had been in office for more than a year, "that man's rhetoric is still that of a casino, of a bar."

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"He talks to the world in the style of a bartender or a casino manager. When he talks to China, to Russia, to Europe, or to anyone in the world, one feels that a gambler is talking," Soleimani said.

Soleimani then gave a stern warning that "not a night goes by when we don't think about you in our sleep."

"Let me tell you, Mr. Trump the gambler... Let me tell you... Know that we are near you, in places that don't come to your mind. We are near you in places that you can't even imagine. We are a nation of martyrdom," he said.

He added: "You may start the war, but we will be the ones to determine its end."

On Friday, Mark Almond, director of the Crisis Research Institute in Oxford, wrote for The Daily Mail that "historians may well trace the moment Qassem Soleimani signed his own death warrant" to this speech.

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It also harkens to another aspect of Trump lore - the idea that he was inspired to run for office after being made fun of by both President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers at the 2011 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.

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