Asenior cleric in Iran has issued a fatwa declaring that anyone who threatens Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “an enemy of God,” state media has reported.
Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi was responding to a question about any threats made by U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of Israel, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A fatwa is a ruling on how to interpret Islamic law issued by a clerical authority.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.
A woman mourns as she holds a poster showing the images of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) Street on June 28, 2025, in the state funeral procession of Iranian military commanders… More AFSHIN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
While a fatwa is not legally enforceable, it can influence judicial decisions in countries with Sharia-based legal systems.
Khosro K. Isfahani, senior research analyst at the National Union for Democracy in Iran wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the fatwa issued by Shirazi against Trump was similar to the murder fatwa issued against the author Salman Rushdie for his novel The Satanic Verses which led to a number of assassination attempts.
The fatwa on threats to the supreme leader also extends to senior Shiite clerics known as Shirazi called on all Muslims around the world “to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes,” Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported.
Trump said amid Israel’s strikes on Iran that he knew where Khamenei was hiding and that the Iranian leader was an “easy target,” but also safe “for now.” During the 12-day Israel-Iran conflict, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz had threatened to kill Khamenei.
Shirazi said anyone who threatens the Leader or Marja is considered “an enemy of God” and reminded Muslims and Islamic states that it would be “haram” (forbidden) to stand in support of the enemy.
“It is necessary for all Muslims around the world to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes,” the fatwa said.
Isfahani said on X that the fatwa had been signed and sealed responding to an Estefta (formal query) and was significant because it directly named Trump and that “unlike the nonexistent Fatwa against nukes, this one is real.”
What People Are Saying
Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi: “Any person or regime that threatens the Leader or Marja (May God forbid) is considered an enemy of God.”
Khosro K Isfahani, senior research analyst: National Union for Democracy in Iran on X: “A second grand Ayatollah….just issued a murder Fatwa against POTUS Trump.”
National Union for Democracy in Iran on X: “The regime will pursue terror, chaos, and assassinations as long as it is in power. The only path to peace and stability is helping Iranians reclaim their country.”
What Happens Next
The fatwa follows a 12-day war which had caused a “highly precarious moment for the Islamic Republic,” Hamidreza Azizi, visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs told Newsweek last week.
It’s unclear how Khamenei will navigate the crisis his regime faces but as his credibility collapses, the regime might crackdown on opposition forces inside and outside the country from using this moment to question the regime’s legitimacy or stability, or to organize against it, Azizi added.
Newsweek