Iranian Clerics Urge Assassination of Trump and Netanyahu

Senior Iranian clerics have called for the assassination of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring the killing of the two leaders a religious duty. The demand, issued by the powerful Assembly of Experts, represents a dramatic escalation in rhetoric amid fragile peace negotiations.

In a 10-point statement, the 88-member clerical body described Trump as the "criminal American president" and Netanyahu as the "wicked prime minister of the Zionist regime," stating that assassinating them "must not be neglected under any circumstances." The clerics wrote that it is obligatory for any "duty-bound person who gains access to these criminals to send them to hell." They framed the call as an act of vengeance for the death of Iran's former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the opening day of the Middle East conflict on February 28.

The statement, endorsed by 63 of the Assembly's members, stopped short of being a formal religious edict, or fatwa, but its language amounts to a direct incitement to violence. The call was amplified by the major Iranian newspaper Hamshahri, which ran a front-page image on Tuesday showing Trump's...