A senior Iranian cleric has issued a fatwa naming President Donald Trump an “enemy of God” following threats against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi declared, “Any person or regime that threatens the Leader or Marja (May God forbid) is considered an enemy of God,” and urged Muslims “to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes,” according to Mehr News Agency.
A fatwa is a legal opinion issued by an Islamic scholar and is not inherently a death sentence. However, Shirazi’s use of the term “enemy of God” (mohareb) carries serious weight in Iranian law, where it can be grounds for capital punishment.
The term evokes the 1989 fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini against author Salman Rushdie, which led to multiple assassination attempts and helped cement the misconception that all fatwas are calls for violence.
The decree follows remarks by Trump during the Iran-Israel conflict, in which he called Khamenei an “easy target” and said he knew his location.
