Responding to Donald Trump threatening to annihilate Iran at the United Nations, the Iranian Embassy in Zimbabwe posted an action clip from the Indian movie Bhagavanth Kesari online. The sarcastic post warned Washington that Tehran is not defenseless.
Iran has taken an unusual cinematic route to respond to US President Donald Trump’s latest warning over the Islamic Republic, sharing a dramatic clip from Telugu superstar Nandamuri Balakrishna’s film Bhagavanth Kesari. The 58-second video was posted by the Iranian Embassy in Zimbabwe on X after Trump threatened to “annihilate” Iran during his address to the United Nations General Assembly.
The embassy accompanied the movie clip with a sarcastic message aimed at Trump and his administration. “Trump talks about annihilating Iran. But he knows Iran is not defenseless. Since we informed they have recently been watching Bollywood instead of Hollywood,” it wrote in the post.
Watch the viral video here:
The clip, however, comes from a Telugu-language film rather than a Bollywood production. Released in 2023, Bhagavanth Kesari stars Nandamuri Balakrishna and features an intense action sequence in which his character faces armed men in a dramatic confrontation. The scene shows him using a large manhole cover as a shield against gunfire before the sequence takes another action-heavy turn.
Iran’s use of the film clip comes against the backdrop of escalating tensions between Tehran and Washington. During his UN General Assembly speech, Trump said he faced what he described as a major decision over whether Iran would reach a deal that could allow it to rebuild or whether the US would “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly.”
Trump said, “I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world?”
He then added, “Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”
The exchange comes as diplomatic contacts between the two countries have also taken place. Iranian and US officials held talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly through Qatari mediators, while Trump said his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had met Iranian officials for around three hours. Trump described the meeting as “a very good meeting” and said further discussions could take place “in the near future.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran continued to demand that the US end its blockade of Iranian ports and release frozen Iranian assets. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was in New York for the UN General Assembly, where he was scheduled to address the gathering.
The unexpected use of an Indian action-film scene has added a pop-culture twist to an otherwise tense diplomatic exchange, with the Balakrishna clip drawing attention online.
