Tehran billboard targets Donald Trump with threats after Lindsey Graham death

Tehran billboard targets Donald Trump with threats after Lindsey Graham death

Authorities in Tehran have installed a massive new billboard in Vali-e-Asr Square that asks in English, Who is next? The display features the name of recently deceased senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in a smaller font beneath the question.

The billboard utilizes unusual capitalization in its slogan, who is D nexT one? which appears to allude to President Donald Trump. This latest installation follows the death of the 71-year-old South Carolina representative after a brief and sudden illness. U.S. Media reports indicated emergency services responded to a suspected cardiac arrest at his Capitol Hill residence.

The billboards in Vali-e-Asr Square are among the largest in Iran. They are designed and produced by the Owj Arts and Media Organization, an entity affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Owj has spent years using these displays to promote IRGC policies, including opposition to negotiations and alignment with the Islamic Republic’s nuclear, missile, and regional agendas.

The provocative display is part of a broader campaign of threats. A previous billboard in Enghelab Square featured an image of Donald Trump with the slogan We will kill Trump in both Persian and English. Another billboard depicts the president dead in a coffin made of concrete barriers, accompanied by graffiti stating we kill Trump. That specific display appeared one day after the U.S. Intensified an airstrike campaign and reimposed a naval blockade on Iran in response to Tehran's attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state-run media and officials have reacted to Senator Graham's death with celebration. State-run IRNA described Graham as one of the most anti-Iran politicians in the U.S., while conservative voices characterized his death as divine punishment. A host on state television remarked that the news was so sweet and declared the war-mongering anti-Iran senator has gone straight to hell. The Tasnim news agency reported, Graham dies, taking the destruction of Iran to the grave, and some regime officials framed the death from natural causes as an achievement.

On social media, regime-linked networks shared a graphic of figures marked for revenge following a February attack on Iran. Graham's face was the only one crossed out with a red X, accompanied by the warning: We will continue to update.

These threats extend to public gatherings. At the funeral of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, mourners carried placards featuring red crosshairs over the faces of Donald Trump, Lindsey Graham, activist Laura Loomer and commentator Ben Shapiro. These placards included warnings that your heads will roll, while some mourners displayed a $100 million bounty for Trump.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the senator. Trump described Graham as a hard-working patriot and one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known. Netanyahu stated, Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. Meanwhile, exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi remembered the lawmaker as a steadfast friend of the Iranian people who had earned the nickname Uncle Lindsey.

The escalating rhetoric follows a period of extreme volatility, including a war that erupted earlier this year after joint U.S. And Israeli airstrikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tensions have been further strained by reports in The Wall Street Journal that Israel obtained evidence of a fresh Iranian assassination plan targeting the U.S. President.

Trump told the New York Post that he has been on Iran's kill list for a long time, a situation he attributes to his 2020 order to target IRGC General Qassem Soleimani. Addressing the potential for an assassination attempt, Trump stated:

"I've left instructions - if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they've never seen before"

Donald Trump, President of the United States, via New York Post

The public threats and military exchanges have led market participants to express skepticism regarding the possibility of a U.S.-Iran deal in 2026. Specifically, confidence in the inclusion of Iran Reconstruction Funding in such an agreement has declined.

Future diplomatic or military actions in the coming weeks will determine if a fragile interim peace agreement can survive or if the current trajectory leads to further escalation.