The high-profile fallout between United States President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, sparked by the latter’s remarks on Pope Leo XIV, has given Iran an opportunity to stir the pot amid the conflict in West Asia.
Iranian embassies globally have, since the start of the war, mocked and jibed at the US President over key issues. Following the Trump-Meloni spat, the Iran embassy in Ghana has now joined the bandwagon, serving satire with a side of diplomacy.
The embassy, in a cheeky post on Wednesday, said that Italy would now have a “vacancy” after it “lost an ally” in Washington, which it said was led by the “commander in grief” and “most ‘powerfool’ man on earth.”
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The Iran embassy offered to apply for the position to replace US as an ally to Italy, citing interests and commonalities as reasons for the potential friendship. It highlighted a ‘cold war’ over ice cream as the sole sore point in their ties.
“Dear Italy, Your PM just defended Pope and lost an ally in Washington — the Commander in Grief, yet the most ‘powerfool’ man on earth. We’d like to apply for the vacancy,” the Iran embassy in Ghana said. Underscoring its “qualifications”, the embassy put its “7,000 years of civilisation” in the spotlight, and also added “food that takes longer to prepare than Trump’s attention span” to the list.
“The only thing Iran and Italy have ever fought over is who invented ice cream. Faloodeh came first. Gelato came louder. We’ve been in a ‘cold’ war over this for 2,000 years,” the satirical post said.
On the sidelines of the US and Israel’s war on the country, Iran has started a meme war of its own, seizing geopolitical moments to adorn the US President with different titles. The Iranian embassy in South Africa on Tuesday called Trump “Miserable pirate of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz”, showing him on a ship in the middle of the sea.
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The Trump-Meloni fallout
The Iran embassy’s post on friendship with Italy came even as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, seen as a key political ally to the US, called the US President’s remarks on the Pope “unacceptable.” In response, Trump said that Melon was “different from what I thought” and not “brave.”
The US President’s recent remarks on the first American-born Pope, and his framing of the war on Iran as ‘divine purpose’, combined with the AI-generated image he posted on his Truth Social account in a flowing, biblical robe, Trump is now in the crosshairs of even his supporters and staunch allies.
The US President attacked the Pontiff on Sunday last week, claiming he was “WEAK on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” after the latter’s stance on the West Asia war.
