It reads like fiction.

In Tehran, Kayhan, a hardline Iranian newspaper closely aligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stunned even seasoned observers of US-Iran hostilities with a column that crossed a new red line: a unapologetic call for the assassination of Donald Trump.

“He’s way out of line! Any day now, in revenge for the blood of Martyr Soleimani, a few bullets are going to be fired into that empty skull of his and he’ll be drinking from the chalice of a cursed death,” the column read in Persian, as quoted by Fox News.

The editorial, placed prominently in the Dialogue section, didn't stop at just threatening Trump.

It cast him as a warmongering force destabilising the globe, claiming that his death would be “welcomed by all righteous people,” singling out “the oppressed of Gaza” and “resistance forces” as those who would rejoice.

It was a direct retaliation message for Trump’s order in January 2020 to carry out a drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, then head of the elite Quds Force.

The backlash was swift and unusually domestic.

Font-page: Kayhan newspaper

Iran’s Press Supervisory Board, citing Article 6 of the country’s national press law, issued an official warning to Kayhan for publishing content that “threatens national security or undermines government interests.”

The Board's censure was reinforced by the Ministry of Culture, which publicly condemned the article: "The Islamic Republic’s stance is clear: Soleimani's case must be pursued legally. Publishing threats damages the country's standing and gives our enemies ammunition."

The author of the piece remains unnamed.

However, Kayhan’s editor-in-chief, Hossein Shariatmadari, a staunch conservative with deep ties to Khamenei’s circle, is believed to have either penned or approved the column.

The provocation—and Its timing

The op-ed’s publication didn’t occur in a vacuum.

Just days earlier, Trump had once again turned his attention to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, warning, “If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing.”

He followed up with the threat of imposing “secondary tariffs” if Iran didn’t comply.

Against this backdrop, Kayhan’s piece read less like spontaneous outrage.

The editorial also mocked Trump’s bluster: “He makes threats and then backs down! The result? The situation in America gets worse by the day.”

The piece even claimed Trump’s past actions had “caused $3 trillion in damage to the US economy.”

Kayhan’s long shadow

To be clear, Kayhan is no ordinary newspaper.

Often described as Iran’s loudest hardline megaphone, it has long opposed diplomatic overtures with the West.

Its editorials often verge on militaristic, aligning themselves with the country’s most conservative, ideologically rigid factions.

As Negar Mortazavi, Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy, put it: “Kayhan joked about Iran potentially intending to assassinate the US president, while the Iranian president officially stated that this is not the state's policy.”

"Kayhan has always been critical of diplomacy and engagement with the West. And this satire piece is no exception to that trend", he added.

But this time, the volume was turned too high, and the world noticed.

Rising stakes

Adding more fuel to the fire, Kayhan International doubled down on April 8th with another article titled “Will the American People Save the US from Trump?”

The piece painted Trump as a global menace, stating: “It is a world where a dotard like Donald Trump threatens all and everybody with sanctions and bombings in his savage bid to disturb the peace of nations.”

It also condemned his alignment with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu—referred to as “the nitwit Netanyahu (Benjamin the Butcher)”—accusing both leaders of unleashing “manslaughter” in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.

With near-prophetic defiance, the editorial warned: “One wrong step by Trump and his over-inflated military will bring a terrible retaliation the like of which the US has never seen.”

It concluded with a rallying cry directed at Americans: “It is now up to the American people…to take a revolutionary step to save the US from the destruction, which his policies have unleashed.”

Meanwhile, in America...

The Iranian firestorm came as the US was dealing with its own security tremors.

On April 7, 2025, CBS News reported a new twist in the second alleged assassination attempt against Trump that happened last year.

Ryan Routh, the suspect, filed a motion in court to suppress eyewitness testimony that he was the man found with a high-powered rifle near Trump’s Florida golf course in September 2024.

Prosecutors claim Routh had been plotting for weeks. He was spotted by Secret Service before he could act, but defense attorneys now argue that police improperly influenced the eyewitness identification, calling it “impermissibly suggestive.”

The case heads to trial in September 2025.

Where this all leads

Whether on nuclear negotiations, regional proxy conflicts, or the political future of Donald Trump himself, the temperature is rising.

For Iran, the internal backlash against Kayhan might seem like damage control. But for observers, it reveals deeper cracks within the country’s ruling elite.

But Kayhan maintained its stance in Sunday's edition.

"Before a single shot has been fired, America’s local servants have already started trembling and lashing out at Kayhan," the newspaper wrote.