President shares doctored photo of opponents ‘trying their best to come to the Ayatollah’s rescue’

Donald Trump has shared a doctored image that shows Democrat leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi in Muslim dress in front of the Iranian flag, an illustration that has appeared on a 4chan message board and was circulated on Twitter by extremist right-wing accounts.
The president shared the image by retweeting a post from user @D0wn_Under, who wrote: “The corrupted Dems trying their best to come to the Ayatollah’s rescue. #NancyPelosiFakeNews”
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The image  which reads “Democrats 2020” under the altered portraits of the house speaker and senate minority leader, who have led the charge to impeach the president from their respective legislative branches  was posted to the president’s timeline amid two dozen posts and retweets attacking Democratic criticism of the administration’s attacks on Iran.
Last week, the House passed a resolution that aimed to curb the president’s war-making powers as the White House threatened additional sanctions against Iran, following its attacks on US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
The president and White House officials announced sanctions to cut off “billions” to the country, including eight of its senior officials, in an attempt to “deny the regime the resources to conduct its destructive foreign policy”, according to Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state. 
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Protests in Iran over downing of plane and tensions with the West
1/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather in front of Amir Kabir University
2/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranians demonstrate following a tribute for the victims of the Ukraine Boeing 737 crash in front of the Amirkabir University in the capital Tehran
3/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police dispersed students chanting “radical” slogans during a gathering in Tehran to honour the 176 people killed when an airliner was mistakenly shot down
4/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University – People hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises
Online videos purported to show that Iranian security forces fired both live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Islamic Republic’s initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner
5/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather
6/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
AFP correspondents said hundreds of students had gathered early in the evening to pay respects to those killed in the air disaster
7/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister back at police
8/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
A protester confronts an Iranian police officer
9/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
10/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police officers take position while protesters gathe
11/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranians light candles for victims
12/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
13/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
People burn British and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the British embassy, in Tehran. Hundreds of Iranian hardliners gathered for a protest against Britain, a day after the UK ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire was detained after attending a a vigil for the victims of Ukraine passenger jet
14/23 British embassy protestBritish embassy protest in Tehran
Chanting “Death to Britain”, up to 200 protesters rallied outside the mission a day after the brief arrest of British ambassador Rob Macaire
15/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
16/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
17/23
18/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
19/23
20/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
21/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
22/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
23/23
1/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather in front of Amir Kabir University
2/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranians demonstrate following a tribute for the victims of the Ukraine Boeing 737 crash in front of the Amirkabir University in the capital Tehran
3/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police dispersed students chanting “radical” slogans during a gathering in Tehran to honour the 176 people killed when an airliner was mistakenly shot down
4/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University – People hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises
Online videos purported to show that Iranian security forces fired both live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting against the Islamic Republic’s initial denial that it shot down a Ukrainian jetliner
5/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police officers take position while protesters gather
6/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
AFP correspondents said hundreds of students had gathered early in the evening to pay respects to those killed in the air disaster
7/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian protester prepares to throw a tear gas canister back at police
8/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
A protester confronts an Iranian police officer
9/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
10/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranian police officers take position while protesters gathe
11/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
Iranians light candles for victims
12/23 Anti-government protest at Amirkabir University
13/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
People burn British and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the British embassy, in Tehran. Hundreds of Iranian hardliners gathered for a protest against Britain, a day after the UK ambassador to Iran Robert Macaire was detained after attending a a vigil for the victims of Ukraine passenger jet
14/23 British embassy protestBritish embassy protest in Tehran
Chanting “Death to Britain”, up to 200 protesters rallied outside the mission a day after the brief arrest of British ambassador Rob Macaire
15/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
16/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
17/23
18/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
19/23
20/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
21/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
22/23 British embassy protest in Tehran
23/23
His announcement followed unclear messaging from the administration over the allegedly “imminent” threat that General Soleimani posed to the US; Mr Pompeo said the US had “specific information” that included attacks on US embassies, though Democrat and Republican members of Congress were outraged with what they saw as a lack of clear intelligence and explanation they received in briefings a week after General Soleimani’s death.
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Millions of Iranians filled the streets of Tehran following his death. After Iran’s admission that it shot down a Ukrainian passenger plan, killing all 167 people on board, protesters in Iran also have raged against the country’s government.
On Sunday, Ms Pelosi appeared on ABC’s This Week, where she explained to host George Stephanopoulos there are “different reasons” why protesters are demonstrating In Iran.
Republicans appeared to intentionally misrepresent the house speaker’s statement and launched another round of attacks against her by claiming had “dismissed” the “protests in Iran against Iran’s regime”.
The account that shared the doctored image also shared dozens of anti-Iranian messages alongside pro-Trump posts.
Mr Trump  who accelerated the “birther” conspiracy against former president Barack Obama, and was accused of stoking anti-Muslim sentiment  posted messages on Twitter in Farsi to warn Iran’s government against killing protesters, and to call on human rights groups to monitor the protests.
On Monday, he claimed on Twitter that “fake news” and its “Democrat partners” are attempting to undermine whether the threat posed by General Soleimani was “imminent”.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham defended the president’s retweet of the doctored image and said Democrats are “taking the side of terrorists and those who were out to kill Americans”, appearing to conflate the Iranian flag and Islam with terrorism while willfully misinterpreting Ms Pelosi’s statements.
She told Fox News: “I think the president was making the point that the Democrats seem to hate him so much that they’re willing to be on the side of countries and the leadership of countries who want to kill Americans”.