Israel Targets Mojtaba Khamenei for Assassination, Iran Threatens Harsh Response

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has said that Israel is targeting Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, for assassination. Iran has threatened to deliver a ‘harsh and immediate’ response to Israel.

‘POTUS (US President Donald Trump) has committed to silencing their ’pet’ in Tel Aviv,’ Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X, as reported by CNN on Thursday (1/7). ‘If they ignore their master, Iran will teach them a lesson. Any threat against our people and leadership will be met with a harsh and immediate response,’ he stated.

The statement was made after Israel Katz warned that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei ‘is a target for assassination,’ as reported by Israeli news agency Ynet on Monday (29/6). CNN has reached out to Katz’s office for comment.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since his inauguration in early March, following the assassination of his predecessor and father, Ali Khamenei, in an Israeli attack in late February. At the time, Katz wrote on X that ‘any leader appointed’ by Tehran ‘to continue the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the US and the free world and countries in the region, and oppress the Iranian people—will be an absolute target for elimination.’

Since his inauguration, Khamenei has largely communicated through statements read by news anchors on the state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB); reports suggest he was injured in the bombing that killed his father. However, authorities will hold funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei from 4 July to 9 July across various cities in Iran and Iraq. The significance of the series of events has sparked speculation that he may appear in public.