Iran’s senior Shiite cleric published a religious decree on Sunday targeting President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which some analysts saw as an encouragement to terrorism.
According to the New York Sun, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi issued a fatwa calling on Muslims worldwide to take a stance. The fatwa declares that any individual or country opposing or threatening the leadership and unity of the worldwide Islamic community (the Ummah) is considered a “warlord” or a “mohareb,” defined as someone who wages war against God. Iranian law states that people classified as mohareb may suffer execution, crucifixion, limb amputation, or exile.
“Those who threaten the leadership and integrity of the Islamic Ummah are to be considered warlords,” Makarem said in the ruling. He finished with a prayer asking for protection from these “enemies” and the swift return of the Mahdi, a messianic figure in Shiite Islam.
Niyak Ghorbani, a British-Iranian critic, blasted the fatwa as a state-sponsored call to worldwide terrorism.
He stated on his X account that the Islamic Republic’s aggressiveness is not restricted to domestic dissent but rather represents greater international objectives for religiously inspired bloodshed.
“The West must realise: the Islamic Republic is not only targeting its own people — it is preparing for global violence in the name of religion,” he wrote in the post.
This fatwa came after the so-called “12-Day War,” in which American and Israeli forces supposedly caused major damage to Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
On June 13, Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear and military installations, killing prominent scientists and commanders. In reprisal, Iran fired ballistic missiles toward Israeli cities. A week later, the United States joined the battle, targeting three Iranian nuclear installations.
Trump has previously warned that any further enrichment of uranium by Iran to weapons-grade levels would result in more US action. This warning came after a temporary ceasefire, which concluded 12 days of heavy combat.
Last week, President Donald Trump asserted that Israeli agents had inspected Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility after recent U.S. airstrikes, reporting the site as “totally obliterated.”
He also threatened to take further action if Iran resumed uranium enrichment.
“They have guys who go in after the strike, and they said it was total obliteration,” Trump told attendees and reporters at a NATO meeting in The Hague this week.
Trump added that Israel is currently preparing a full damage assessment and suggested that Iran had no time to relocate any materials from the site before the strike.
He compared the U.S. airstrikes on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, claiming both had a similarly decisive effect in bringing the conflict to a halt.
Trump’s rhetoric grew increasingly dramatic over the day, as he dismissed reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran’s 400kg stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium had gone missing, Forbes noted further.
On Wednesday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed that Iran’s nuclear program had sustained significant damage and would require years to rebuild. “Several key nuclear facilities were destroyed,” he said, citing reliable intelligence sources.
Trump also announced that a US-Iran meeting is likely to happen next week to discuss Tehran’s nuke program. “We may sign an agreement, or we may not,” he said. “I don’t care if I have an agreement or not.”
Also, the president appeared less certain about a lasting cease-fire and peace between Israel and Iran after announcing earlier in the week that it would last “forever.”
“They’re both tired… but could it start again? Maybe. Maybe soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, a leaked Defense Intelligence Agency report shortly after the strikes claimed that the Iranian programs had only been set back “by months,” but that assessment — which news outlets like CNN and the New York Times failed to mention — said the intel was of “low confidence.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this week that the FBI is working with the Pentagon to find out who was responsible for the leak and that criminal charges are likely.