A constitutional body composed of Iran's highest-ranking clerics has called for the assassination of U.S. President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier, Iran's parliament had also placed a bounty on Trump's assassination. Even as peace talks have begun, with both nations continuing their sharp conflict, Iran has declared that it will collect tolls in the Strait of Hormuz after the 60-day agreement period ends.
"Killing Criminal President, Evil Prime Minister Is a Religious Duty"
According to Iranian local media Tuesday, 63 of the 88 senior clerics (Islamic jurists) belonging to Iran's constitutional body, the Assembly of Experts (Assembly of Experts for the Leadership), issued a statement the previous day arguing that "killing the criminal U.S. president and the evil prime minister of the Zionist regime (Israel) is a religious duty." The hardline conservative Assembly of Experts is elected by direct vote and has the authority to select, monitor, and dismiss the supreme leader.
They stressed that this duty remains Iran's top priority as revenge for the blood of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who died on Feb. 28, the first day of the war, adding, "If anyone can gain access to these criminals, they have a duty to send them to hell." They defined Trump and Netanyahu as "mahdour al-dam," meaning "those deserving of death," and urged that "their execution must not be neglected under any circumstances." In May, Iran's parliament also pushed to offer a bounty of up to 50 million euros (about 88.8 billion won) for the assassination of Trump.
These clerics also demanded that the terms of the ceasefire memorandum must be implemented within the deadline, saying there is a high possibility the U.S. will attack Iran again after the ongoing 60-day negotiations. They further condemned the Iranian leadership's decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic error and demanded that Iran's nuclear rights be excluded from the agenda of negotiations with the U.S.
It is also noteworthy that this statement came on the day Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited a seminary in the central religious city of Qom to defend the negotiations with the U.S. At the seminary, Pezeshkian stressed that the ceasefire memorandum agreement and negotiations were carried out in full coordination with the supreme leader, and argued that domestic critics were waging psychological warfare in collusion with hostile foreign media. Qom, home to the Assembly of Experts building, is the center of Iran's religious forces. Within Iran, moderates and pro-negotiation factions appear to be in intense conflict over the negotiations.
After Iran, Now Oman... Signs of Hormuz Toll Collection
This hardline internal atmosphere is also affecting the ceasefire negotiations with the U.S. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker and head of the Iranian ceasefire negotiation team, appeared in a nationally televised address on the 30th and said that free passage through the Strait of Hormuz without paying tolls would be permitted only for the 60 days during which ceasefire negotiations with the U.S. proceed.
Ghalibaf reiterated his existing position that "sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz lies with Iran and Oman, and while consultations are held with Persian Gulf coastal states, passage through the strait must be carried out entirely according to methods and procedures determined by Iran." He stressed, "As the Strait of Hormuz is Iran's territorial waters, Iran will never give up its rights to the strait under any circumstances."
Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to the head of Iran's negotiating team with the U.S., also recently argued on social media that "whether it is a toll, a security service fee, or a maritime passage fee, the terminology does not matter from Iran's standpoint," adding, "There are no free services anywhere in the world."
Although Trump warned Oman not to get involved in controlling the Strait of Hormuz, even mentioning bombing, Oman is also reportedly pushing forward with a plan to collect Hormuz tolls together with Iran. Oman, which had until now taken a cautious stance toward the idea of imposing tolls on the Strait of Hormuz, appears to be moving toward giving concrete shape to the so-called "joint management" plan that Iran has proposed, despite U.S. opposition.
On the 30th, The New York Times (NYT), citing multiple diplomatic sources and Iranian officials, reported that Oman recently delivered an official proposal to the U.S. and Western countries containing a plan for ships using the Strait of Hormuz to pay a service fee. Oman described this as a voluntary service fee rather than a mandatory toll. This concept is reportedly modeled on the navigation safety fund operating in the Strait of Malacca and Singapore Strait. In these straits, a private foundation collects voluntary contributions for safe navigation.
The U.S. has strongly opposed charging fees in the Strait of Hormuz regardless of what it is called. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed in Bahrain last week, "We oppose any plan to link use of the strait to money in any form, whether a fee, a toll, or a donation," adding, "We must return to free navigation as before the conflict."
The U.S. negotiating team has received Oman's proposal and reportedly plans to discuss its concerns with Oman. However, the U.S. government expects that it can coordinate differences through working-level consultations, given its strategic partnership with Oman, the NYT reported.
According to the ceasefire memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the U.S. and Iran this month, safe and free passage of merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz is guaranteed for the 60 days during which negotiations proceed. However, Iran and Oman agreed to establish operating arrangements afterward through consultation.
