Iran's Clerical Body Endorses Revenge After Khamenei Assassination

The Assembly of Experts for Leadership, Iran's highest clerical body, issued a statement on July 14, 2026, declaring full support for a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. In the message, Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge for the assassination of his father, the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed during joint US-Israeli air strikes in Tehran.

The Assembly stated that pursuing and punishing the assassins is a "divine duty" and affirmed the nation's commitment to a path of "honor, independence, and resistance." Mojtaba Khamenei had been elected to the leadership in early March 2026, shortly after the strikes hit his father's office.

On July 14, mourners gathered at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran to commemorate Ali Khamenei. The event featured political imagery, including a portrait of Mojtaba Khamenei and a poster depicting U.S. President Donald Trump in the crosshairs of a rifle scope with the phrase "There Will Be Blood."