Iran’s Religious Minorities Denounce Assassination Threats Against Ayatollah Khamenei

Saturday, 21 June 2025 10:15 AM

Iranian religious minorities condemn assassination threats against Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

In a show of national unity, the top representatives of Iran’s religious minorities and faith communities have strongly condemned recent threats against the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Signed by prominent leaders from Iran’s Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, and Mandaean communities, a statement issued on Saturday denounced the threats issued by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an attack not just on a political figure, but on the shared values and spiritual dignity of believers around the world.

"Divine leaders and religious scholars are the perfect mirror of the identity of the followers of divine religions... attacking them is considered an attack on the beliefs and emotions of hundreds of millions of people,” the statement reads.

The clerics warned that such threats violate the Charter of the United Nations and fundamental norms of international law, particularly those protecting high-ranking officials of sovereign UN member states.

The faith leaders also emphasized that if such threats are deemed imminent, they justify a legitimate right to preemptive self-defense under international legal standards.

Highlighting the issue's global religious dimension, the signatories also cautioned that these threats could provoke widespread and uncontrollable reactions both within the region and beyond.

“The world's religious and interfaith leaders, the United Nations Security Council... and other international institutions and legal authorities are expected to respond decisively, publicly, and effectively,” the statement noted.

The assassination threats against the Leader of the Islamic Revolution came after the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked aggression against Iran, which led to the assassination of many high-ranking military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

In response, Iran launched Operation True Promise III, targeting strategic Israeli military and intelligence sites across the occupied territories.

Signatories:

Bishop Narsay Benjamin, Bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East in Iran, Armenia, and Georgia

Varosh Avansian, Chairman of the Armenian Caliphate Council of Tehran and the North

Rabbi Younes Hamami Lalehzar, Leader of the Jewish Community of Iran

Mobad Mehraban Poladi, Chairman of the Zoroastrian Association of Iran

Ganzora Nejat Chahili, Religious Leader of the Sabean Mandaeans of Iran