Iran seizes on killing of Alex Pretti, accuses US of hypocrisy

The fatal shooting of Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti by US federal agents on Saturday has prompted various reactions from across the Middle East, including AI-generated photos depicting Americans appealing to Iran’s supreme leader for help, while Iranian state-aligned media outlets have highlighted the incident as an example of US hypocrisy. 

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during protests against an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, marking the second fatal shooting by federal officers there in less than three weeks. Another resident, Renee Good, was killed earlier in January.

Video footage from the incident appears to show Pretti recording federal agents with his phone before being shoved by an officer, then pepper-sprayed and restrained on the ground. In several verified videos, one of the agents emerges from the struggle holding a handgun that federal officials say Pretti had been carrying on his person, as he was licensed to do. Agents then appear to shoot Pretti 10 times. 

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published late Sunday, President Donald Trump said his administration was “reviewing everything” related to the shooting. On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was sending his border czar, Tom Homan, to Minneapolis. 

Iranian news outlets react

Following the killing, AI-generated images began circulating on social media platforms including X and Facebook. The graphics show Americans addressing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and asking for his intervention or support. It is unclear where the images originated.

Another image that circulated on X showed Khamenei's account parroting a post US President Donald Trump had made during the recent wave of protests in Iran.  

Iranian state-aligned media outlets framed the Minneapolis killing as evidence of US domestic unrest and violence by law enforcement.  

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency described the killing as “a symbol of the contradiction between official government narratives and objective evidence.” Another Tasnim post on Telegram read, “From the White House’s support for attacks on police and mosques in Iran to the threat of a severe response to any attacks on churches and police in the US.” 

Meanwhile, Iran’s English-language state broadcaster, Press TV, posted on X that calls were growing for Trump’s removal before the US was “pushed into the unknown.” An article featured on its website described the federal agents in Minneapolis as “trigger-happy.” 

The protests in Minneapolis follow tensions between Washington and Tehran over the Iranian regime's own crackdown on protests. During the protests in Iran, Trump repeatedly warned the Iranian leadership that he would intervene if demonstrators were killed. “I tell the Iranian leaders: You better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too,” he said on Jan. 10. 

Iran Human Rights, an Oslo-based monitor, has documented at least 3,428 people killed during protests in Iran. The Iranian government has said more than 3,000 people were killed, claiming over 2,000 were security personnel and describing fewer than 700 as protesters it labeled “terrorists” and “rioters.” 

While Iran’s government crackdown appears to have quelled the protests and Trump has backed down from his threats of intervention, the US has increased its military presence in the region. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has entered Middle Eastern waters, a US official told Al-Monitor’s Jared Szuba on Monday. 

Arabic-language commentary 

Although regional leaders have remained silent, the incident has drawn attention on Arabic-language social media, where users shared footage from Minneapolis and commentary critical of the US government.

One user wrote on X, “Terror in America. Alex Pretti didn’t hold a weapon and yet he was shot multiple times. The federal police are now like [the Islamic State] in America. No one is safe.” 

Another wrote, “The true face of America appeared during the Trump era and American blood became cheap like the rest of the Arab countries ruled by dictators.” 

One user on X compared scenes from Minneapolis to Gaza, posting images of tear gas and protesters with a caption reading, “It’s not Gaza but Minneapolis in the northern United States of America.” 

Many others criticized perceived hypocrisy in US policy. One user wrote, “He wanted chaos in Tehran so God sent him the Minneapolis earthquake.” 

Another shared images of armored vehicles and tear gas in Minneapolis, writing, “The massive American military forces arrived in the Arab region with the aim of attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran only to find the American street ablaze and armored vehicles descending into Minneapolis as if it were a battlefield.”