On December 29, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands and points toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference following their meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. [Reuters/Jonathan Ernst]The British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Tuesday, the 30th, that Iranian clerics have issued a statement calling for the assassination of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The statement was signed by dozens of members of Iran’s Assembly of Experts.

The British newspaper reported that in a 10-point statement signed by approximately 63 of the 88 members of the clerical body, Trump and Netanyahu were declared "mahdour al-dam." "Mahdour al-dam" is an Islamic legal term referring to someone whose blood may be shed with impunity or who deserves to die.

According to The Telegraph, the statement declared that executing the "criminal U.S. President" and the "Prime Minister of the evil Zionist regime" is a religious duty, and that anyone with the opportunity to do so must "absolutely" not neglect it. Furthermore, the statement identified revenge for the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last February as a "top priority."

The Telegraph reported that the statement did not amount to a formal fatwa (an Islamic legal ruling), as per Shia Islamic tradition, such religious edicts are issued by individual clerics rather than organizations. The paper also noted that while the secretariat of the Assembly of Experts later distanced itself from the statement, approximately 63 of its members had signed it.

This report comes shortly after the Iranian state newspaper Hamshahri featured a photo of President Trump on its front page on Tuesday with the headline "Revenge is Certain," alongside an article highlighting calls from senior clerics and lawmakers for retaliation over Khamenei's death.

The article included remarks from Grand Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi-Amoli calling for Trump’s blood to be shed, as well as a parliamentary proposal to place a 50 million euro bounty on Trump's life.

The Assembly of Experts is an 88-member body of Islamic jurists responsible for appointing and supervising the country's Supreme Leader under the Iranian constitution. Following reports that emerged shortly after Khamenei was killed in an initial U.S.-Israeli airstrike on February 28, the body reportedly elected his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, as his successor.

This statement was issued despite the fact that earlier this month, the U.S. and Iran signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a 60-day negotiation framework to reach a broader agreement following their conflict.

Iran has long been accused by U.S. authorities of plotting to target President Trump. In 2024, federal authorities indicted a Pakistani national with ties to Iran on charges of a murder-for-hire plot, which prosecutors stated was linked to Iran's attempt to retaliate for the 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Revolutionary Guard General Qasem Soleimani.

U.S. NNP = Representative Reporter Sung Ku Hong / Special Correspondent for the paper, NNP info@newsandpost.com