UANI Top Iran Sanctions Targets for Iranian Regime Fatwas

NAME:

DESCRIPTION:

Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi

DOB: February 25, 1927

Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi served as a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts. Makarem-Shirazi, known as the “Sultan of Sugar,” has made a fortune in illicitly trading sugar. Some estimates suggest he has made at least $100 million. The U.S. State Department has noted, “he has pressured the Iranian Government to lower subsidies to domestic sugar producers while he floods the market with his own more expensive imported sugar. This type of activity puts ordinary Iranians out of work.” Makarem-Shirazi has issued a fatwa calling for the assassination and crucifixion of President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and others under the Islamic penal code of mohareb (waging war against God). Under Sharia law, all those charged as a mohareb must not only be killed but also tortured prior to death, including through crucifixion and cross-amputation. This is incitement to assassinate the President of the United States. Makarem-Shirazi should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani

DOB: March 21, 1925

Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani—a student of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini who served as his representative in Europe from 1979-1980—has issued a series of threats against the Jewish community over the years, once remarking: “one should fight the Jews and vanquish them so that the conditions for the advent of the Hidden Imam be met.” He has also engaged in antisemitic commentary, proclaiming “already from the beginning the Jews wanted to hoard the world’s goods in [their] greed and voracity. They always worked in important professions and now they have hoarded all of the wealth in one place. And all of the world, especially America and Europe, are their slaves.” Hossein Nouri Hamedani has issued a fatwa calling for the assassination and crucifixion of President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and others under the Islamic penal code of mohareb (waging war against God). Under Sharia law, all those charged as a mohareb must not only be killed but also tortured prior to death, including through crucifixion and cross-amputation. This is incitement to assassinatethe President of the United States and others. Hossein Nouri Hamedani should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Ayatollah Hossein Mazaheri 

DOB: November 16, 1933 

 

Ayatollah Hossein Mazaheri has issued a fatwa calling for the assassination and crucifixion of President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and others under the Islamic penal code of mohareb (waging war against God). Under Sharia law, all those charged as a mohareb must not only be killed but also tortured prior to death, including through crucifixion and cross-amputation. This is incitement to assassinatethe President of the United States. Mazaheri should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Ayatollah Ja’far Sobhani 
DOB:  April 9, 1929 

Ayatollah Ja’far Sobhani – a senior member of the Assembly of Experts – has issued a fatwa calling for the assassination and crucifixion of President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and others under the Islamic penal code of mohareb (waging war against God). Under Sharia law, all those charged as a mohareb must not only be killed but also tortured prior to death, including through crucifixion and cross-amputation. This is incitement to assassinatethe President of the United States. Ayatollah Ja’far Sobhani should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Alireza Panahian

YOB: 1965

UANI has  previously called on Western authorities to sanction Alireza Panahian. Panahian—a senior member of the Office of Supreme Leader and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated extremist cleric—is extensively tied to the IRGC’s intelligence-security apparatus, which is involved in gross human rights violations in Iran and terrorism abroad. He has vocally advocated for terrorist attacks on U.S.-led forces in the Middle East and beyond.  Panahian is in the inner-ring of Mojtaba Khamenei’s personal network and a member of the so-called “Habib Circle” – one of the regime’s highest informal security-intelligence networks – which has committed human rights violations and is involved in terrorist activities. He also plays a leading role in the IRGC’s antisemitic and violent, Islamist extremist indoctrination program, including serving as one of the key ideological architects of the IRGC’s militaristic and apocalyptic doctrine of Mahdism, which advocates for the destruction of Israel and the eradication of Jews worldwide as a perquisite for the Hidden Shia Imam’s return. Panahian has promoted the fatwas of Naser Makarem-Shirazi and Hossein Nouri Hamedani, saying recently that “anyone who tries to kill or threatens to kill Supreme Leader Khamenei is a mohareb (waging war against God). Every Muslim anywhere in the world must be willing to give their life and take action to kill them.” Panahian should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Ayatollah Abbas Kaabi
YOB: 1962

Ayatollah Abbas Kaabi – a member of the leadership committee of the Assembly of Experts – has declared that “insulting the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution is considered to be equivalent to insulting the Imam of the Time [the Hidden Imam] and is tantamount to being a mohareb against God’s representative.” Kaabi has also publicly endorsed the issuance of the mohareb fatwa against President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and others, describing it as a “historic and influential ruling.” Under Sharia law, all those charged as a mohareb must not only be killed but also tortured prior to death, including through crucifixion and cross-amputation. Kaabi is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was a key figure in the establishment of Hezbollah in Lebanon – both of which are U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Kaabi has extensive ties to Hezbollah and the Iran-backed Shia militias in Iraq. He should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Abdolmajid Kharghani

DOB: Not available

Abdolmajid Kharghani—a hardline cleric and Qur'anic studies expert—was the first individual to publicly reveal that a fund had been set up via an online channel to collect money for the “killing of Trump and Netanyahu.” Speaking on Iran’s State TV, Kharghani stated that “in European countries” this could be “achieved with $10–20 million.” After Kharghani’s assertion, a website—named “THAAR.IR”—was made public to collect donations for the assassination of President Trump. The website claims it has raised over $20 million so far. He should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Ahmad Khatami, Member of the Guardian Council and Assembly of Experts and Interim Friday Prayer Leader of Tehran

DOB: May 8, 1960

UANI has previously called on Western authorities to sanction Ahmad Khatami. Khatami is a member of the clerical establishment. He has served as a member of the Guardian Council which has suppressed elections and engaged in mass disqualifications of candidates, depriving Iranians of their fundamental freedoms. This includes their rights to self-determination. Khatami has threatened physical violence against Iranians demonstrating against the Islamic Republic and urged security forces to exhibit “no mercy.” He thanked the judiciary “for sending the first rioter to the gallows” after the killing of Mohsen Shekari, the first participant in the Woman, Life, Freedom movement to be executed by the Islamic Republic. Khatami’s conduct has been so egregious that the EU sanctioned him for human rights abuses. In June, Khatami incited the assassinations of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, calling for their executions. Khatami should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

Mohsen Araki, Member of the Assembly of Experts and Expediency Council

YOB: 1955

Mohsen Araki is a member of the Assembly of Experts and Expediency Council in Iran. Araki is also the supreme leader’s former representative to the United Kingdom and head of the Islamic Center of England, which has been used as a platform to export the Islamic Revolution in Europe. Araki this month threatened President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying “their lives and property are no longer protected. The U.S. government and president are now considered a hostile infidel government by all Muslims.” Araki should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities.

NAME:

DESCRIPTION:

Qom Seminary (Hawzeh Ilmiyeh Qom) 

The Qom Seminary has been instrumental in endorsing and advocating the mohareb fatwa against President Trump, Prime Minister Netenyahu and others. The head of the Qom Seminary—Ayatollah Alireza Arafi—has expressed his “appreciation” for the religious fatwas and stated: “We warn the enemies against continuing their insolence, and we declare the adherence of all Muslims and believers to divine rulings as obligatory and essential.” Likewise, professors, adminstrators, and seminar students have signed and released a statement declaring their “readiness to propagate and implement the fatwa in relation to the enemies of God (mohareban).” Qom Seminary should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224.

Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)

IRIB is the national broadcaster of the Islamic Republic of Iran. IRIB is not an ordinary television network. It has already been sanctioned by the U.S. government pursuant to the Iran Threat Reducation and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012. The U.S. Treasury Department has noted, “IRIB and its subsidiaries act not as objective media outlets but rather as a critical tool in the Iranian government’s mass suppression and censorship campaign against its own people. IRIB has produced and recently broadcast televised interviews of individuals being forced to confess that their relatives were not killed by Iranian authorities during nationwide protests but died due to accidental, unrelated causes.” IRIB has broadcast a call for the assassination of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, where a cleric announced the creation of a fund to collect money for the assassinations which he stated could be achieved with $10-20 million. IRIB should therefore be sanctioned as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224. U.S. allies should do the same under their national authorities. Because of the incitement to kill President Trump, the U.S. government should also rescind the sanctions waiver that has been in place for IRIB to block satellite broadcast services to the network.