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Wednesday, July 1, 2026
[Salon] Fwd: Iranian clerics call for Trump’s assassination - Guest Post by Akhtar Makoii
Iranian clerics call for Trump’s assassination
‘Religious duty’ to kill US president and Israeli PM ‘must not be neglected’, says Tehran’s Assembly of Experts
Akhtar Makoii
Iran’s most senior clerics have called for the assassination of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a 10-point statement, the Assembly of Experts said the killing of “the criminal American president” and “the wicked prime minister of the Zionist regime” was a religious duty.
Assassinating the two leaders – whom they described as mahdour al-dam, or deserving of death – “must not be neglected under any circumstances”.
The call to action came despite Washington and Tehran having signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the Middle East war, which broke out on Feb 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The 14-point pact allowed 60 days to negotiate a permanent truce and to resolve thorny issues including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
However, days of tit-for-tat strikes in the Strait of Hormuz and Israel’s military actions in Lebanon have put the interim peace deal under pressure.
In their call for Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu to be assassinated, the clerics wrote that avenging the blood of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who was killed on the first day of the war, remained “paramount”.
“It is obligatory upon any duty-bound person who gains access to these criminals to send them to hell,” they added.
The language read like a religious edict but stopped short of a formal fatwa, which in Shia Islam is issued by an individual cleric in his own name rather than by a group.
The Assembly of Experts is an 88-member body of clerics constitutionally tasked with choosing and supervising the supreme leader.
Its premises in Qom and Tehran were bombed during the war, in what Iranian officials said was an effort to stop it from naming a successor to Khamenei.
His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was later chosen to replace him in a remote meeting.
The statement shows how fractured the establishment has become.
Only about 63 of the body’s members signed it, and the Assembly’s secretariat distanced itself hours later.
Warning of US attack
The clerics also pressed the government to keep the negotiations on a tight leash, warning that Washington was buying time to rearm.
“The likelihood of a renewed attack after will be very high – the matters raised in the memorandum of understanding must be resolved within the stipulated 30-day and 60-day deadlines,” they wrote.
They called on the Islamic Republic supporters to continue mass mobilisation on the streets “in the leader’s name”, saying “the people’s presence is necessary and decisive” for as long as Khamenei “deems it expedient”.
The signatories also condemned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a “strategic error” and demanded Iran’s nuclear rights be excluded from talks.
It was not the first time Iran had been linked to a threat against the US president.
In 2024, weeks before a gunman shot and wounded Mr Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, US intelligence agencies said they had uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate him – part of what Washington described as years of efforts to avenge the 2020 killing of Gen Qassim Soleimani, the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s overseas Quds Force.
US officials found no link between that plot and the shooting.
The clerics’ call came as Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, travelled to Qom to defend his peace agreement, telling seminary teachers it had been reached “in complete co-ordination” with the supreme leader and accusing domestic critics of waging a “psychological operation alongside hostile foreign media”.
The peace process, meanwhile, has appeared to stall.
Steve Witkoff, the US envoy, and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law, arrived in Doha to meet Qatari mediators to discuss the US-Iran negotiations, but there would be no high-level meeting between Washington and Tehran, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
Esmail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, said Tehran had “no negotiating session at any level” planned with the American side.
Mr Baghaei added that an Iranian technical delegation was travelling to Doha only to follow up on implementing the deal, including the release of frozen funds.
Amid the turmoil, Mohammad Akbarzadeh, the deputy commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s navy, was killed when his vehicle overturned on a road in southern Kerman province, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, without giving further details.
Fr. Bob's Reflection for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Guest Post
When most of us fill out a job application, one quality almost always required is “attention to detail.”
The great luxury ship, the Titanic, was considered unsinkable. It carried the finest engineering and nautical technology of its time. Yet on a calm, clear night in the Atlantic Ocean, the ship struck an iceberg and sank, claiming more than 1,500 lives. Investigators later discovered that one critical factor contributed to the disaster: the rudder was too small to turn the massive ship in time. A great vessel was lost because of one overlooked detail.
Do the small things matter?
I once heard about a pastor who survived a brutal prisoner-of-war camp by dedicating himself to serving others. Years later, someone asked him to name the person who had most influenced his life. Without hesitation, he answered, “Ms. Emma,” his childhood babysitter. School had taught him his ABCs, but Ms. Emma taught him the ABCs of Scripture:
“A soft answer turns away wrath. Be kind to one another. Cast all your cares upon the Lord, for He cares for you.”
Those simple lessons shaped the course of his life. What seemed small at the time became deeply significant later on.
Yes, the small things matter. Today’s Gospel reminds us of that truth. Jesus tells His disciples that even offering a cup of cold water to someone in need is noticed by God. Small acts of kindness become the foundation of a life lived in service to others and in love for Christ.
Jesus also tells His followers to love Him above family, comfort and even life itself. He calls them to take up their cross and follow Him. Those words must have startled the disciples.
Perhaps that is why Jesus immediately points to something simple and concrete: “Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because they are My disciples will not lose their reward.”
In other words, even the smallest act of charity requires sacrifice. It asks us to think of others before ourselves; to give rather than cling tightly to what we have.
The people who change the world are often those who practice small acts of goodness with great love. Mother Teresa cared for the poor and dying in Calcutta. Nelson Mandela devoted his life to reconciliation, unity and justice. Miep Gies quietly risked her life to help Anne Frank and her family to survive the Nazi occupation.
This is the vision Jesus offers us: kind words, merciful actions, a listening ear, a helping hand. These are the little things that slowly transform the world, one person and one moment at a time.
My friends, think about your own lives. The moments we treasure most are rarely the grand occasions we planned so carefully. More often, they are the ordinary moments – laughter shared around a table, comfort during sorrow, encouragement when we needed it most. As time passes, we realize the little things often mattered the most.
So, never underestimate the power of simple words or small gestures. “I’m sorry.” “I love you.” “God bless you.” These may be exactly the words someone is longing to hear. And offering them may change a life.
Fr. Robert Warren, S.A. Headshot
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Robert Warren, S.A.
Spiritual Director
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