UANI Condemns Iranian Regime Clerics Calling for Crucifixion of President Trump

UANI Calls for American and International Sanctions, Law Enforcement Proceedings, and Immigration Reviews on Iranian Regime Clerics and their Families

(New York, NY) – United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Governor Jeb Bush, CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, and Senior Advisor Rt. Hon. Tom Tugendhat MP released the following statement today calling for action against senior Iranian regime ayatollahs and officials who have been threatening to assassinate and crucify President Trump and other U.S. nationals.

“UANI vehemently condemns the Iranian regime’s barbaric fatwas calling for the crucifixion of President Trump and other U.S. nationals. Over the last few days, some of the most senior Iranian regime ayatollahs and officials — Naser Makarem-Shirazi, Hossein Nouri Hamedani, Najmuddin Tabasi, and Alireza Panahian — have issued fatwas (religious decrees) calling on Islamists worldwide to carry out barbaric, homegrown terrorist attacks against President Trump and U.S. nationals. Senior regime mullahs Makarem-Shirazi and Hamedani have specifically issued fatwas 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.

“Panahian, who is a senior member of the Office of the Supreme Leader and a close associate of his son Mojtaba Khamenei, has amplified these calls for the killings of American officials. Likewise, Tabasi, who is a member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, proclaimed President Trump “must be executed” and said, “the same hand that fired a shot past his ear can put a bullet through his throat.” A mullah on Iran’s state TV has even announced the creation of a fund to collect money for the “killing of Trump and Netanyahu,” which he stated could be achieved with $10–20 million.

“The Iranian regime’s medieval and barbaric threats against the U.S. president and others cannot be ignored – and must not go unanswered. The U.S. government and its allies should immediately sanction Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his son Mojtaba Khamenei, Makarem-Shirazi, Hamedani, Tabasi, and Panahian, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

“None of these men have been sanctioned to date under counterterrorism authorities. Additionally, the U.S. Justice Department should seek indictments against these men and American law enforcement should partner with its allies to request INTERPOL Red Notices for issuing threats to internationally protected individuals. The U.S. government and its allies should also conduct national security-based immigration reviews on these clerics, Iranian officials, and their families to ensure they are prohibited from traveling to the territories of the U.S. and its allies.

“UANI has revealed that these senior Iranian regime mullahs are in direct communication with individuals and entities in the West, including in the U.S. and Europe. Against this backdrop, there is an added urgency to implement stringent measures against them.

“Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa against the author Salman Rushdie was handed down in 1989. In 2022, Rushdie was almost killed after his eye was gouged out by an individual seeking to carry out the fatwa at a talk in Chautauqua, New York. These calls are incitements to homegrown terrorist attacks and pose a serious threat to the president and U.S. nationals—they should be treated accordingly.”