A constitutional body composed of Iran's top clerics has called for the assassination of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The call comes as a demand for vengeance for the death of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
According to local Iranian media on July 1 (local time), 63 out of the 88 senior clerics (Islamic jurists) belonging to the Assembly of Experts, Iran's constitutional body, issued a statement the previous day claiming that "killing the criminal U.S. President and the evil Prime Minister of the Zionist regime (Israel) is a religious duty."
They emphasized that this duty remains Iran's top priority to avenge the blood of Ayatollah Khamenei, who died on February 28, the first day of the war, stating, "Anyone who has access to these criminals has a duty to send them to hell."
They labeled President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu as "Mahdur al-Dam," meaning those whose blood must be shed, and urged that "their execution must not be neglected under any circumstances."
The Assembly of Experts is elected by direct vote and holds the authority to appoint, monitor, and dismiss the Supreme Leader.
To become a member, one must be a high-ranking cleric (Mujtahid) qualified to interpret Islamic law, and the body is known for its hardline conservative stance.
The secretariat of the Assembly of Experts denied that this statement represents the official position of the organization.
These clerics also demanded that the contents of the current ceasefire memorandum must be fulfilled within the 60-day deadline, arguing that there is a high possibility of the U.S. attacking Iran again after the ongoing negotiations conclude.
Furthermore, they condemned the Iranian leadership's decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic error and demanded that Iran's nuclear rights be excluded from the negotiation agenda with the U.S.
It is also noteworthy that this statement was released on the same day that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited a seminary in the central religious city of Qom to advocate for negotiations with the U.S.
At the seminary, President Pezeshkian emphasized that the ceasefire memorandum agreement and the negotiations were conducted in full coordination with the Supreme Leader, and claimed that domestic critics are colluding with hostile foreign media to wage psychological warfare.
Qom is the center of Iran's religious power and the location of the Assembly of Experts' headquarters.
(Photo: Yonhap News)