Senior Iranian clerics have issued religious decrees declaring that any attack or threat directed towards Iran’s religious leadership constitutes a war crime, amid heightened tensions following recent Israeli strikes and verbal assaults from Western leaders.
In separate statements issued on Sunday, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi and Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri-Hamedani warned that targeting the country’s supreme religious authority, particularly Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, would be treated as an act of war and enmity against Islam.
Ayatollah Shirazi stated that “any person or regime that threatens or attacks the leadership and religious authority in order to harm the Islamic Ummah and its sovereignty is subject to the ruling of confrontation.”
He further declared that it was forbidden for Muslims or Islamic governments to deny or support such actions.
“All Muslims around the world must make these enemies regret their words and mistakes,” said the senior cleric, adding that those who face hardship or loss in doing so “will have the reward of a fighter in the path of Allah.”
Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani, in his decree, underscored the sanctity of the religious leadership and called any insult directed at Ayatollah Khamenei an attack on the core values of Islam.
“Insulting the position of the Shiite authority and the person of the Leader is considered an insult to the very principles of Islam,” he said.
He emphasised that “supporting His Eminence is obligatory, and weakening him is forbidden, especially in these circumstances when all the enemies of Islam, the Quran, and the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) have united.”
“Any attack or threat against him and the Shiite authority, whether by an individual or a state, is regarded as an act of enmity,” the statement read, warning that any party aiding such actions would share equal responsibility.
The decrees come in the aftermath of what Iran has described as a “brutal aggression” launched by Israel on June 13. Iranian officials accuse the Israeli regime of carrying out targeted strikes that resulted in the deaths of senior military figures, nuclear scientists, and civilians, including women and children.
Tensions were further inflamed after former US President Donald Trump made disparaging remarks about Ayatollah Khamenei, claiming he had restrained US and Israeli forces from assassinating the Iranian leader.
In retaliation, Iran said it launched a series of missile strikes on Israeli military and industrial sites, claiming to have overwhelmed Israel’s defence systems with next-generation weaponry.
Tehran said the response was a “measured act of self-defence,” targeting what it described as “legitimate military objectives” in response to provocations from Tel Aviv and Washington.
