Amid increased tensions after recent Israeli bombings and vocal attacks by Western politicians, senior Iranian clerics have issued holy decrees stating that any attack or threat against Iran’s religious leadership is a war crime.
Targeting the nation’s highest religious authority, especially Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, will be viewed as an act of war and animosity against Islam, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi and Grand Ayatollah Hossein Nouri-Hamedani cautioned in separate comments released on Sunday.
“Any individual or government that attacks or threatens the leadership and religious authority in order to harm the Islamic Ummah and its sovereignty is subject to a ruling of confrontation,” said Ayatollah Shirazi.
He went on to say that actions that Muslims or Islamic governments support or deny are prohibited. The senior cleric stated that “all Muslims worldwide must make these enemies regret their words and mistakes,” adding that those who suffer hardship or loss in the process “will have the reward of a fighter in the path of Allah.”
In his proclamation, Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani emphasized the sacredness of the religious leadership and referred to any slight against Ayatollah Khamenei as an assault on the fundamental principles of Islam.
He declared, “It is considered an insult to the very principles of Islam to insult the position of the Shiite authority and the person of the Leader.”
He emphasized that, “especially in these circumstances when all the enemies of Islam, the Quran, and the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) have united, supporting His Eminence is obligatory, and weakening him is forbidden.”
The statement warned that any party supporting such measures would bear equal responsibility, stating that “any attack or threat against him and the Shiite authority, whether by an individual or a state, is regarded as an act of enmity.”
Following what Iran has called a “brutal aggression,” Israel initiated the measures on June 13. The Israeli dictatorship is accused by Iranian officials of carrying out targeted strikes that killed nuclear scientists, high-ranking military officers, and civilians, including women and children.
Former US President Donald Trump’s derogatory comments about Ayatollah Khamenei, in which he claimed to have prevented US and Israeli soldiers from killing the Iranian leader, heightened tensions even more.
Iran claimed to have overpowered Israel’s defense systems with next-generation weapons in retaliation, launching a string of missile strikes against Israeli military and industrial targets.
Targeting what it called “legitimate military objectives,” Tehran said the retaliation was a “measured act of self-defence” in response to provocations from Washington and Tel Aviv.
