Ali Larijani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, who was considered one of late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s top aides, has made several explosive remarks about President Donald Trump and American deaths in Iran. On Saturday night, he shared unverified claims that several American soldiers have been captured and are being held in prisons amid the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
The US has denied these claims. A CENTCOM spokesperson told Al Jazeera Arabic, “The Iranian regime’s claims of capturing American soldiers are yet another example of its lies and deceptions.”
‘Trump lying about American deaths’
Larijani accused Trump of ‘promoting a misleading narrative’ about the six American soldiers killed in Iranian strikes. He had previously alleged that the true number of US casualties is ‘over 500.’
FOLLOW: Dubai news LIVE: UAE President warns ‘enemies’; Kuwait airport targeted by drone attack
The security chief said that the US will increase the number of casualties, ‘under various pretexts’.
“Then, soon enough, with the passage of time, they gradually increase the number of the dead, under various pretexts, such as incidental accidents or fabricated incidents,’ he said on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
In another post, he added: “Under the pretext of an accident, they will inflate the number of casualties.”
“It has been reported to me that several American soldiers have been taken prisoner. But the Americans claim that they have been killed in action. Despite their futile efforts, the truth is not something they can hide for too long,” Larijani tweeted.
US to consider attacking more areas in Iran
Meanwhile, Trump said that the US will consider striking areas and groups of people in Iran that were not previously considered targets.
“Today Iran will be hit very hard!” he posted on Truth Social. In a separate post, the president said that Iran has apologized to its neighbors.
“Iran, which is being beat to HELL, has apologized and surrendered to its Middle East neighbors, and promised that it will not shoot at them anymore. This promise was only made because of the relentless U.S. and Israeli attack. They were looking to take over and rule the Middle East. It is the first time that Iran has ever lost, in thousands of years, to surrounding Middle Eastern Countries,” Trump wrote.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed not to back down as Tehran maintained missile strikes on Israel and Gulf states hosting American military forces. “The idea that we would surrender unconditionally — they must take such a dream to the grave,” he said in a speech.
