Trump: Surprised by participation of Iranian people at funeral ceremony

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, stated in an interview (according to some sources with the Axios network) that he was surprised by seeing the tears and presence of Iranian people at the funeral ceremony of Iran's leader. Trump expressed that he had expected Iranian people to have negative feelings toward this person, but he witnessed emotional reactions contrary to this expectation. These remarks were made against the backdrop of tense relations between the United States and Iran and the pressurized state of the region.

• Trump explicitly said that he thought Iranian people hated their country's leader, but their funeral ceremony showed them differently.
• Trump's remarks were based on his observation of the funeral ceremony and public reactions that he was following.
• Trump used the phrases "I was surprised" or "I was caught off guard" to express the extent of his astonishment at these circumstances.
• Sources used direct quotations from Trump and presented these statements in the context of analyzing the public reaction of Iranians.. **Coverage difference:** Domestic sources (IRNA, Mehr, Akharin Khabar, Akhbare Fouri) covered these statements under similar headlines but with different emphasis; some stressed Trump's "surprise" while others emphasized his "admission" of people's affection. Emotional indicators and symbols (emoji) and words such as "martyr" and "enemy" were present in some headlines, whereas other sources presented the narrative apart from such value-laden descriptions.

# News Analysis