The US President posted a picture of himself with the words: “Sanctions are coming” referencing the phrase “Winter is Coming” from the popular fantasy book series and HBO show.
This is then followed by “November 5”, the date on which the newest and harshest round of US sanctions on Iran will come into force.
Major General Qasem Soleimani from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and commander of the specialist Quds force, then responded on his own Instragram page.
The general posted a picture of himself with the defiant words: “I will stand against you”.
President Trump announced in May his intentions of quitting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Barack Obama struck with Tehran, as well as China, France, Russia, the UK, Germany and the EU.
The deal meant Iran promised to limit its nuclear weapons in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.
Trump’s new sanctions will hit Iran’s oil exports in particular.
HBO accused Trump of misappropriating their phrase and text font.
The network said: “We were not aware of this messaging and would prefer our trademark not be misappropriated for political purposes.”
They also tweeted: “How do you say trademark misuse in Dothraki?” referring to the language of a nomadic people in the series.
Fans of the TV show also responded humorously to Trump’s post.
One said: “Should someone tell him the White Walkers are the bad guys?” referring to the zombie-like creatures that come out in winter in Game of Thrones.
Another just said: “Littlefingers”, a pun on the character Littlefinger used to mock Trump for his allegedly tiny hands.
Meanwhile, others photoshopped the image of Robert Mueller, the former FBI chief heading up the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election.
One caption read “Mueller is coming” and another “Impeachments are coming”.
Trump has had very little international support for his decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran.
The countries remaining in the deal are working hard to circumvent his administration’s new sanctions with payment systems that do not use US dollars or financial institutions.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday that eight countries would be exempt from the sanctions, including Italy, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey.
Iran has remained defiant throughout, with the secretary-general of Iran’s Combatant Clergy Association Ali Movahedi-Kermani arguing that the lack of international support for the move showed it will not work.