{"id":9927,"date":"2025-06-30T14:52:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T18:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greatamericanewsdesk.com\/?p=9927"},"modified":"2025-06-30T14:52:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T18:52:13","slug":"iranian-grand-ayatollah-issues-fatwa-targeting-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatamericanewsdesk.com\/foreign-affairs\/iranian-grand-ayatollah-issues-fatwa-targeting-trump\/phouck\/2025\/06\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Grand Ayatollah Issues Fatwa Targeting Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A senior Iranian cleric has called for the assassination of U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a>, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>, and other Israeli officials, calling them \u201cEnemies of God.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi<\/a>, a leading Shiite cleric in Iran<\/a> with authority to issue legal rulings under Islamic law, has issued a fatwa<\/a> \u2014 an Islamic legal decree \u2014 escalating regional tensions and offering religious justification for violence against Western and Israeli leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Newsweek<\/em> rightly notes<\/a>, the development highlights the Islamic Republic\u2019s ongoing use of religious decrees as political tools \u2014 a strategy Iran has long used to project power beyond its borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While a fatwa is not legally enforceable, it can influence judicial decisions in countries with Sharia-based legal systems.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khosro K. Isfahani, senior research analyst at the National Union for Democracy in Iran wrote on X, formerly Twitter<\/a>, that the fatwa issued by Shirazi against Trump was similar to the murder fatwa issued against the author Salman Rushdie for his novel The Satanic Verses which led to a number of assassination attempts.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Fatwa Targets U.S. and Israeli Leadership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shirazi\u2019s ruling singles out Trump, Netanyahu, and senior Israeli officials for death, framing the call as a divine imperative. While fatwas lack direct enforcement mechanisms outside of Islamic law, they carry significant weight among hardline elements and militias aligned with Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fatwa comes on the heels of a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire that followed a 12-day conflict involving Israel<\/a>, Iran, and the United States<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the height of the fighting, President Trump declared that the U.S. knew the whereabouts of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei<\/a>, calling him an \u201ceasy target\u201d \u2014 though he added Khamenei was safe \u201cfor now.\u201d Around the same time, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued his own threat, saying that Khamenei should be assassinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Newsweek<\/em> reporters Brendan Cole and Shane Croucher add<\/a>, \u201cShirazi said anyone who threatens the Leader or Marja is considered \u2018an enemy of God\u2019 and reminded Muslims and Islamic states that it would be \u2018haram\u2019 (forbidden) to stand in support of the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They continue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt is necessary for all Muslims around the world to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes,\u201d the fatwa said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isfahani said on X that the fatwa had been signed and sealed responding to an Estefta (formal query) and was significant because it directly named Trump and that \u201cunlike the nonexistent Fatwa against nukes, this one is real.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi of Iran has issued a fatwa, which is considered a legal ruling on a point of law in Islam, calling for the assassination of U.S. President Donald J. Trump as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials in\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Wd86FxtSYZ<\/a><\/p>— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 29, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>