A senior Iranian cleric delivered Friday prayers in Tehran while standing behind a podium that declared, “We Will Trample Upon America,” according to photos released by Iran’s state-controlled media.

Iranian cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, who was handpicked by the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader to deliver the prayers, delivered a message of hostility toward the United States in the first official remarks since a final nuclear deal was signed between Iran and world powers in Vienna last week.

A Persian-language message on the podium declared, “We will trample upon America” while the English phrase “We Defeat the United States” can be seen underneath.

Friday prayers are known for being officially sanctioned by the state and a sign of the supreme leader’s thinking on various issues.

Analysts who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon about the anti-American tone of last week’s prayers said it is a sign Tehran believes it bested the United States in the talks.

“The slogans of the Iranian nation on Al-Quds Day show what [Iran’s] position is,” said the Middle East Media Research Institute. “The slogans ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America’ have resounded throughout the country, and are not limited to Tehran and the other large cities. The entire country is under the umbrella of this great movement [of ‘Death to America’].”

Source: Iran: ‘We Will Trample Upon America’ | Washington Free Beacon