Iran has mocked U.S. President Donald Trump over his secret aircraft switch during a visit to Turkey, claiming the extraordinary security operation showed his fear of Iran's military power.The Islamic Republic's embassy in South Africa also piled in, sharing a meme showing Trump inside a catering box surrounded by food and warning that he 'will be hidden in a trash can before long'.The embassy's X account, which is listed on its official website, often goes viral for memes that are also reported by Iranian state media. 'Again, Trump, with his new scandal, has become the top subject in the U.S. media these days. A scandal stemming from fear of Iran's military power, a power that caused Trump, last month, while returning from Turkey, to secretly switch his plane,' said a presenter on state television, adding that the episode has become a source of 'humiliation' for Trump. Tehran also hit back at Trump's claim that the US has 'total control' of the Strait of Hormuz, insisting the vital waterway remains under the 'management and control' of the Islamic Republic.Hossein Taeb, the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, made the declaration on Thursday, a day after Trump's remarks.Trump's secret aircraft switch was prompted by a threat that Air Force One could be targeted by a shoulder-fired missile, a person briefed on the matter said. Iran has mocked U.S. President Donald Trump over his secret aircraft switch during a visit to Turkey, claiming the extraordinary security operation showed his fear of Iran's military powerPresident Donald Trump talks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at Joint Base AndrewThe threat emerged on the final day of Trump's visit to Ankara for the NATO summit, the source said, as tensions run high due to the ongoing U.S. war on Iran. The Secret Service deemed the threat to be credible and imminent, prompting an extraordinary operation to conceal the U.S. president's movements.The New York Times reported that U.S. officials were alarmed to discover that Iranians knew where Trump was staying in Ankara, including the exact floor of his hotel.Tehran has not officially commented on the allegations, or on the airplane switch. The White House could not be immediately reached out of working hours.Billboards and murals around Tehran take aim at the U.S. president and Israel, showing images from Trump lying in a coffin to drowning in the sea.While the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last month pledged vengeance for the death of his father and predecessor, who was killed on the first day of the war.Trump and a small group of aides used a catering truck to switch from the big blue-and-white presidential aircraft to a smaller, nondescript C-32A jet for the flight out of Turkey on July 8, while Air Force One departed separately carrying senior administration officials, White House staff and the travelling press corps, according to the first source.The Washington Post first reported details of the plane-switch operation.In 2024, the U.S. Justice Department charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged ​plot ordered by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to assassinate Trump, then U.S. president-elect. Tehran denied those accusations in September 2024.'Iranian hardliners, who have been talking about taking revenge for the assassination of Iran's supreme leader on February 28, as well as some other senior political and military officials in Iran are basking in the fact that the United States was so afraid and concerned about President Trump's safety and security,' said Ali Vaez, deputy program director for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group. A small boat sails past cargo ships and other commercial vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, August 5 The remarks came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. had 'total control' of the strategic waterwayIran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source, who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June.During a podcast on Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, commentator Alireza Majidi recounted a 2018 visit by Trump to the Ain al-Assad base in Iraq, a country where Iran enjoys support from armed groups.Trump himself described the extraordinary security measures he had to go through on that trip.'If you had seen what we had to go through with the darkened plane, with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever anywhere. Pitch black. I have never seen anything like it,' CNN quoted Trump as speaking to reporters at the base in Iraq.The latest row comes as Iran and Trump clash over control of the Strait of Hormuz, with Tehran insisting the vital waterway remains firmly under its control.Hossein Taeb, the head of Iran's Basij paramilitary unit, declared on Thursday that the strategic waterway was under the 'management and control' of the Islamic Republic.Taeb said the United States had sought to disrupt what he described as the Islamic Republic's popularity in the region by launching another war in the Strait of Hormuz, but had once more been defeated despite claiming Iran had neither an air force nor a navy. 'Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic,' Taeb said, adding that Iran was continuing on its course in complete security.In his Truth Social post, Trump said that the US would 'keep' control of the vital waterway, describing its naval blockade as a 'WALL OF STEEL' and claiming there was 'nothing Iran can do about it'.He also claimed Iran had 'no Navy' and 'no Air Force', that its remaining soldiers were unpaid and that the country's leadership was 'uncertain, at best'.The tensions have also been heightened by the extraordinary security operation that saw Trump smuggled off Air Force One in a catering truck amid fears of an Iranian assassination attempt. The commander-in-chief was on his way back from a NATO summit in Turkey when he was bundled off the jet and boarded a separate military plane.Trump had traveled to Turkey aboard a 747-8 donated by Qatari officials, which the administration has spent vast sums of money improving for security.But as the summit concluded, the President announced he would not take the newly outfitted plane and would instead board an older model rather than the plane that flew him there for 'old times' sake.'Trump was then filmed and photographed boarding the older-model Air Force One jumbo jet in Ankara, which was bound for a US military base in the UK.However, officials familiar with the ruse told the NY Times that the president covertly entered a food cart that had been fitted to the belly of the plane.The food cart was then loaded onto an airport catering truck, which transported him to a smaller Air Force C-32A plane, according to the Washington Post.The plot reportedly fooled journalists and even some White House staffers who were aboard the 'decoy' Air Force One flight.In a video from the tarmac obtained by the Post, Trump could be seen waving to the cameras as he heads into the older plane, before a truck is seen maneuvering towards the steps of the C-32A.A catering truck was visibly parked on the opposite side of Air Force One after Donald Trump boarded the plane in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8The reported subterfuge came as Trump was leaving the NATO summit in Turkey last monthThe video shows a man in a suit entering the catering truck's cab. A container is then loaded into the bed of the vehicle and pulled away from the old Air Force One.The container had notably been lifted to the level of the plane for several minutes.When the container was lowered, a person in a suit stepped out of the truck's cab, which remained at ground level and ascended the stairs leading up to the nearby C-32A.Moments later, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was seen boarding the C-32A separately using regular stairs as part of an apparent attempt to make the flight appear typical.Journalists who boarded the old Air Force One plane, believing Trump was aboard, were instructed to close their window shades following take off.The plane carrying the journalists took on the Air Traffic Control sign 'Air Force One', which is technically only meant for any plane on which the President is onboard.Meanwhile, the C-32A flight Trump and Hegseth were on used the call sign 'Reach 18' or 'RCH18,' according to the Washington Post.Such 'Reach' signs are typically used for personnel transport flights and those that haul military equipment.After the two planes landed in the UK, Trump was apparently smuggled from the C-32A to the legacy Air Force One jet and was seen descending on external stairs.From there, Trump embarked on the Qatari-donated plane to travel back to Washington with the White House press pool.Onboard that aircraft, the President spoke to journalists for about 15 minutes, highlighting the threat that Iran poses.When asked why reporters were ordered to lower their window shades on the plane in Turkey, Trump said: 'Because you're probably on a dangerous flight because of the sleaze bags that we have to deal with.'He then added that he has a 'threat all the time' on his life and that he is 'number one' on Iran's 'list.'