Those who pass the gigantic corner billboard in Enghelab Square in central Tehran are used to seeing political symbols and sometimes the faces of political leaders.
The figure who appeared there in images shared by international news agencies on Wednesday was President Trump, his body peeking out from an open black coffin.
The figure’s eyes and mouth are closed and its hair is disarrayed. Also visible are hands resting on a red tie atop a protruding stomach; at the far end of the coffin, feet point straight up.
Threatening imagery in Enghelab Square is nothing new: In January, the billboard depicted a strike on an American warship, leaving a bloody wake resembling the stripes of the U.S. flag.
In recent weeks, vengeance on behalf of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s former supreme leader, and others has been a repeated theme in Iranian propaganda. But it has rarely taken such a lurid form.
White graffiti splattered across the coffin includes the words “We Will Kill Trump” in both Persian and English. The style of the writing recalled a blackboard wall where mourners could write chalk messages during the memorial ceremonies for Ayatollah Khamenei, who was killed as the war began on Feb. 28. The billboard’s graffiti refers to him as a martyr.
The graffiti also says “In memory of Minab’s children,” referring to the city in southern Iran where a strike hit an elementary school on Feb. 28. That attack came at the same time as one on a nearby Iranian naval base; in March, U.S. officials said the preliminary results of an ongoing investigation indicated that an American targeting error was the cause.