“Sanctions are coming November 5,” US President Donald Trump tweeted Nov. 2, ominously warning Iran on the sanctions Washington would reinstate on the country. Both the typeface and the message were borrowed from “Game of Thrones,” a fantasy drama TV series popular both in the United States and in Iran. The meme shows the US president gazing into space against a steel gray backdrop reminiscent of the series' visuals.

Trump’s tweet immediately drew negative reactions, both for his parallelism between the sanctions and the series’ much-feared “endless winter,” and the implicit casting of himself and his administration in the role of the “White Walkers,” an ancient race of humanoid ice creatures that invade the Kingdoms of Westeros to subdue its residents.

In a reply on Twitter, the Washington-based National Iranian American Council called Trump "a literal White Walker, fear-mongering, war-mongering, and championing division at every opportunity for political gain.”

The reactions of the Iranians, who are finding themselves yet again subject to unfair sanctions despite signing the 2015 nuclear deal, was swift. Hours after Trump's tweet, a meme in which Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was portrayed in a matching pose went viral. It carried a similar — albeit grammatically incorrect — slogan: “Sanctions are welcoming, November 5.”