Iranian clerics call for assassination of Trump and Netanyahu

[Twiglets1]

Article in The Telegraph reports that 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”.

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.

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.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/06/30/iranian-clerics-call-for-trump-assassination/

Then both Israel and Iran need to button it don’t they? In order to keep the peace talks on track. There should be equal outrage for what both sides have said.

Who did you mean when you said Is this wrong when Israelis do it?

Be more specific what you mean and I will try to answer in good faith but that question was hopelessly vague.

They do both need to button it to keep the peace talks on track, yes.

You're welcome to start a thread on what Katz said and I will join it and agree that his comments are not helpful to peace.

There’s no point in a new thread. Katz also threatened Mojtaba Khamenei, saying he was marked for death. Both sides are as bad as each other.

Yes you already mentioned that and no, Katz shouldn't have made a death threat against Khamenei.

Especially during negotiations for peace, as I said about the Iranian clerics. At least Katz isn't pretending it's a religious duty, though.

Maybe I’m psychic?

Or just a realist. If Iran/ Islamic republic could kill Netanyahu he’d be dead already no religious declarations required. Maybe another Matar will be radicalised and act on such a statement but I find it unlikely.

Trump is such a divisive figure I do wonder if this is part of an ongoing propaganda campaign for those that lack critical thinking skills. Don’t like Trump then support us. It’s presented as a binary choice but it’s not you can dislike Trump and the Iranian regime.

Well, Netanyahu is well known for putting a lot of religion into his speeches. He does it often.

All that Amalek stuff. He often makes out he is fighting a religious war. GW Bush was the same with Iraq. Gog and Magog if I recall.

In fact, a large part of US support for Israel is because of US evangelicals who want the 2nd Temple rebuilt to bring about the end days and the Return of Jesus. Religion is riddled through it all.

Killing is wrong.

Or maybe wrong? That's possible too.

Trump has survived assassination attempts before but that doesn't mean he would necessarily survive a future one.

Now I know most people wouldn't cry about that but still ... I don't agree with you that there is no way this is going to be carried out.

The Iranian clerics are presumably very highly respected in Iran amongst those of the same religion.

I´m not into assassinations. But if the Iranian clerics, Trump, Putin and Netanyahu all dropped dead rigt now, I can assure you no tears would roll down my cheeks.
You seem surprised that the Iranian clerics have decided this, as the CIA has been executing/eliminating/unaliving foreign leaders since forever.

No tears would roll down for my cheeks for any world leader I don't think.

But yes, I do think it's wrong that religious clerics are calling for assassinations.

They aren't military men or involved in the peace talks, which they are potentially harming. A strange time to up the tempo which suggests they (like Katz) don't want peace.

No you're not missing anything. Trump and Netenyahu assassinated Iraq's leaders and followed it up with dropping bombs on innocent Iraqis. Apparently, actually bombing schools, hospitals and civilians is OK by the Mnetters currently having coniptions about what these clerics are saying.

Netanyahu uses religion when talking about killing Palestinians, his wonderful Amalek speech for example. He is open about the fact that Gaza is a 'spiritual mission' for him and his connection to the idea of a 'Greater Israel' which is deeply rooted in religion.

Your arguments for selective outrage aren't really holding water.

Some Rabbis have called for the death of everyone in Gaza, women, children, everyone. That's far more shocking to me, calling for the death of innocent vulnerable people, than calling for the death of your enemies leaders who killed your leader and threatened the lives of everyone in your country. Should religious clerics be blood thirsty and calling for deaths, no. Is it a shocking new thing, also no.

Possibly wrong and this self doubt is why I never gamble.

I find just find it vanishingly unlikely that someone following this decree with the means, motive and opportunity will ever be in striking distance of either individual. I rather think time and cholesterol (or an assassin with another motivation) are more likely to do Trump in first. He’s 80 and not in fantastic health, How long can he possibly have?

Should religious clerics be blood thirsty and calling for deaths, no.

Agreed.

Rabbis calling for death of everyone in Gaza is shocking too. Surprised no one has started a thread about that.

I looked it up, and Iranian clerics have been saying these things for years. I am not saying it should be ignored. But they seem to not be very good at it.

And yes, I know the 20 Iranian terror plots uncovered in the UK was about them wanting to kill dissidents. But that was the Iranian Government so far as I am aware. Not clerics. And the plots were foiled.

And yes, I know about Salman Rushdie too. That was Khomeini.

But here we are talking about POTUS and the Israeli pm.

Just some of the controversial comments made by Rabbis in Israel during the Israeli and Hamas war:

Rabbi Eliyahu Mali: Head of the Shirat Moshe Yeshiva in Jaffa, he made remarks to military students in March 2024 suggesting that Jewish religious law required the killing of all residents in Gaza. He argued that "there is no difference" between combatants and non-combatants, including women and children, stating: "either you or them. Whoever comes to kill you, kill him first". The Israel Police recommended closing the incitement case against him. 1, 2]
Rabbi Ronen Shaulov: A prominent Israeli cleric who has openly given speeches calling for the starvation of the entire population of Gaza, including children, asserting that none should be spared. 1]
Minister Amichai Eliyahu: An Israeli cabinet minister and former yeshiva educator, he suggested early in the conflict that dropping a nuclear weapon on Gaza was "an option". He later advocated for bombing Gaza's food and fuel reserves, stating that "they need to starve" and that finding ways for Gazans that are "more painful than death" should be explored. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Tangential to this thread, Khamenei [the dead one] is about to go on tour, including taking in two holy cities in Iraq. Image is from an article posted just before midnight on Monday (address at top). What could possibly go wrong? The article mentions fatal crowd crushes at previous big funeral gatherings.

Another thread that was started about something other than, but has ended up all about Israel.
Must be so odd to be so obsessed with something one dislikes so much.

I don't get the mentality that it's impossible to give an opinion about something without there always having to be something in opposition to the topic at hand. Like that's the only lens you have to view things through - X is doing something bad - well yeah, not as bad as/just at the same as Y.

Like you can't mention anything bad that Labour are doing without some bright spark piping up about 'well what about the Tories?' Well yeah, they were shit too, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't look at how shit Labour are being - they're the ones in power right now!

Or when Hamas carry out an atrocity - well what about Israel?

Over and over again. So tedious.

The lack of ability to appraise something on its own merits is curious.

Nobody thinks that loss of life is ok. But it comes across as if posters think one side is better than the other when they do the whataboutery. They want us to shift attention from the first thing to the second (though the same posters complain bitterly when others do that to them).

The whataboutery I guess is some sort of defensiveness? But who on earth thinks these idiots in Iran are worth defending? And why on earth would you assume that anyone who raises concern about death threat to a leader must approve of that leader?

It's so childlike that it's hard to debate with rationally. Maybe that's the aim.

It's kind of difficult not to mention the acts carried out by the US and Israel on a thread with Trump and Netenyahu in the title.

Probably because people aren't as obsessed with Israel as some posters would like to portray, bad people do bad things everywhere, you'd be here all day if you started threads about them all especially something like so and so said x, y or z, it's small fry compared to the actual atrocities that happen.

Well, as the conversation is opening up a bit, it might be worth mentioning US evangelical Scott Lively and his Pastor pals who were instrumental in Uganda passing the death sentence as punishment for being gay.

The Role of US Evangelicals in Radicalizing Ugandans Against LGBTQ Rights — History News Network (hnn.us)

As for Pastors in the US, there are hundreds of them who call for LGBTQ folk to be executed. Example here:

Tennessee preacher-cop calls for execution of LGBTQ people | CNN

Authorities in Tennessee are reviewing all pending cases involving a Knox County Sheriff’s Office detective after he gave a sermon at his church that called for the government to execute members of the LGBTQ community.

“They are worthy of death,” Grayson Fritts said in a June 2 sermon at All Scripture Baptist Church, a small church in Knoxville that he leads.

A lot of these religious folk really do appear keen on killing.