Ten days ago, following Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and while the body of Ali Khamenei was still in Iraq, Donald Trump announced the end of the ceasefire with Iran. However, verbal threats from various Islamic Republic officials against Trump and American leadership had already been mounting for days. From a written message by Mojtaba Khamenei vowing "revenge" against his father’s killers, to MP Sattar Hedayatkhah asking women at a rally to drop their gold into his hat to fund the retaliation, to Hossein Shariatmadari writing in the Kayhan newspaper during Trump's visit to Turkey that "Trump must not remain alive" - how serious are these threats to a United States that has targeted Iran's southern provinces with bombs and missiles?
What Do We Know About Iranian Officials' Threats Against Trump?
The sparks for the latest wave of threats against Donald Trump’s life during the final days before the ceasefire lapsed on July 7 were struck by Naser Makarem Shirazi and Hossein Noori Hamedani, two state-aligned clerics who issued rulings declaring those threatening the Supreme Leader as Muhareb (combatants against God).
On July 2, clerics from the Tehran Seminary issued a joint statement branding US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Kafir Harbi (belligerent infidels), Mofsed-e-fil-arz (corruptors on Earth), and Mahdoor al-Dam (those whose blood may be spilled with impunity). This "juridical ruling" stated: "The foolish wretch Trump and his Zionist accomplice Netanyahu embody severe crimes including mass murder, terrorism, intimidation, the destruction of vital resources, warfare, and the annihilation of generations. By Islamic law, these two deserve bloodshed and destruction." Citing Quranic verses, the statement urged Muslims worldwide to "prepare to confront and resist threats," warning that "if this American clown commits a folly, the region will become a flaming hell for US military personnel and diplomats."
