I’d love to give Iran a chance, Trump says at dinner with Israeli PM

The ten state-appointed clerics issued an open letter on Monday referring to US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister as "infidel combatants", an Islamic legal term for a non-believer at war with Muslims who deserves death.

In a speech delivered in Azeri, another state-appointed cleric in Iran's West Azarbaijan Province announced a reward of 100 billion tomans (approximately $1.14 million) for anyone who kills Trump.

“We will give 100 billion tomans to anyone who brings the head of Trump,” said Mansour Emami, the provincial director of the official Islamic Propagation Organization in West Azerbaijan.

An Iranian website, thaar.ir, alleged that it was running a public campaign to solicit money for the assassination of Trump. The site most recently displayed more than $20 million raised.

There was no immediate confirmation of the authenticity of the figure.

During an interview with US media personality Tucker Carlson aired on Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian distanced the Iranian government from the religious decrees, saying that they are not directed at any specific person.

“To the best of my knowledge, they have not issued decrees or fatwas against any individual or against Donald Trump. It has nothing to do with the Iranian government or the Supreme Leader of Iran,” Pezeshkian said.

Last month, Alireza Panahian, a hardline Iranian cleric close to the Supreme Leader, called on Muslims to kill Trump and Netanyahu in retaliation for their threats on the life of Khamenei during a 12-day war.

Panahian cited fatwas labeling those who made such a threat a “mohareb,” or enemy of God.

Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi and Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani had previously issued separate fatwas against Trump and Netanyahu. In his statement, Shirazi declared:

“Any regime or individual threatening the leaders of the Islamic Ummah (nation) and acting on those threats qualifies as a mohareb.”

Ahmad Alamolhoda, Khamenei’s representative in Iran's Razavi Khorasan Province, on Monday expressed support for the two clerics' fatwa.

“Labeling those who insult or violate the sanctity of the Supreme Leader as apostates and enemies of God will strengthen the foundations of the Islamic Republic and the Revolution," Alamolhoda said.

In 1989, Iran’s former leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against British author Salman Rushdie for allegedly blaspheming Islam in his novel The Satanic Verses.

Despite living under heavy security for decades, Rushdie was stabbed and blinded in one eye by an assailant in New York in 2022—an attack widely linked to Khomeini’s fatwa.

“The (Israeli) regime seeks war, and we doubt Trump would oppose it. We, too, are in a state of full readiness,” state-run Press TV quoted what they called an informed Iranian source as saying.

Iran assesses the meeting due for Monday between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump will be no different from their consultations before the 12-day war, the report cited the source as saying.

The source described such meetings as “deceptive,” adding “everything has been agreed upon in advance.”

“If Trump believes that after a military strike on our nuclear program, we would trust a diplomatic agreement with them, then he is not a good dealmaker,” the source said, referring to the possibility of renewed nuclear talks between the United States and Iran.

The comments came as Axios reported Israeli officials believe Trump could give them the green light for renewed military action if Iran moves to restore elements of its nuclear program.

Israel is preparing for further strikes, with discussions between Trump and Netanyahu expected to focus on future US nuclear negotiations and potential triggers for renewed Israeli attacks, Axios cited two sources with knowledge of the matter as saying.

Israeli officials cited two scenarios: an Iranian attempt to extract enriched uranium from the damaged Fordow, Natanz or Isfahan sites, or efforts to rebuild enrichment facilities, the report said.

According to Axios, Netanyahu’s top adviser Ron Dermer told colleagues he left Washington last week convinced the Trump administration would support Israeli military action under certain conditions.

Dermer held meetings with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff.

UK foreign office minister Hamish Falconer told parliament on Monday that the British embassy has reopened and a chargé d'affaires is now in place.

“We will continue to play our full role to ensure the safety of British nationals in Iran,” he said.

The Swiss Embassy, which represents US interests in Iran, also reopened on Sunday after nearly two weeks of closure. Services remain limited to consular visits, with visa-related services still suspended, the embassy announced.

Swiss intelligence warns of growing Iranian espionage threat

The reopening comes as Swiss authorities raise security concerns over Iranian espionage. On Wednesday, Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) warned that Iran poses a growing intelligence threat to Swiss diplomats.

In its annual "Security Switzerland 2025" assessment, the agency said Switzerland’s role as Washington’s protecting power in Tehran increases the visibility of Swiss personnel to hostile intelligence services.

The warning followed a joint SRF and RTS investigation aired Tuesday, in which a former IRGC officer said Swiss diplomat Sylvie Brunner was pushed from her Tehran balcony in May 2021 after a failed surveillance operation. Iran ruled it a suicide but has not shared full case files with Swiss authorities.

Brunner’s brother believes she was murdered. A Swiss forensic report found key organs missing, making toxicology tests incomplete. It said suicide was plausible but could not rule out foul play.

Her death was the first of four suspicious cases involving Swiss nationals in Iran. Others include the 2023 death of a defense attaché, the stabbing of a local embassy employee, and the 2025 death of a Swiss tourist in prison.

Swiss officials say they are pressing for full transparency in each case but have no jurisdiction to conduct investigations on Iranian soil. Without access to evidence or cooperation from Iranian authorities, their ability to determine what happened remains limited.

“Netanyahu, as I said, has his own agenda. He wants to drag the US into forever wars… and to bring more insecurity and unrest to the whole region," Pezeshkian told Carlson in the virtual discussion, referring to the Israeli Prime Minister.

Carlson is an outspoken critic of US military action against Iran and a top dissenter from among President Donald Trump's populist base. The US President dismissed his views as "kooky".

Pezeshkian, a relative moderate, has advocated for greater engagement with Washington but hardline Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ultimately decides policy.

Responding to a question on whether two senior clerics had issued a fatwa to kill Trump, Pezeshkian said, “To the best of my knowledge, they have not issued decrees or fatwas against any individual or against Donald Trump. It has nothing to do with the Iranian government or the Supreme Leader of Iran."

"What they actually meant by the fatwa was the condemnation of an insult to a religion or religious personalities … It should not be construed or considered as a threat against an individual.”

Last month, Alireza Panahian, a hardline Iranian cleric close to Iran’s Supreme Leader called on Muslims to kill Trump and Netanyahu in response to their threats against Khamenei, citing fatwas that declare him a mohareb, or “enemy of God.”

Najmuddin Tabasi, a member of the Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom, said Trump “must be executed” and warned that “the same hand that fired a shot past his ear can put a bullet through his throat.”

Referring to recent fatwas by Ayatollahs Naser Makarem Shirazi and Hossein Nouri Hamedani, Tabasi said he was confident that “brave youth will deprive Trump of security.”

Pezeshkian also denied Iran had sought to kill Trump in an alleged plot detailed by US law enforcement last year.

'No problem' with reviving talks

Iran has never pursued nuclear weapons, Pezeshkian said, citing religious prohibitions and cooperation with international inspectors.

“We have never been after developing a nuclear bomb—not in the past, not presently or in the future—because this is wrong. And this is in contrast to the religious decree or the fatwa which has been issued by the Supreme Leader … so it is religiously forbidden for us to go after a nuclear bomb.”

Ongoing conflict with Israel had sabotaged nuclear negotiations, he said, adding that talks with the US had been progressing when Israel launched attacks on Iran.

“We were sitting at the negotiating table when it happened. And by doing this, they totally ruined and destroyed diplomacy.”

“We see no problem in reentering the negotiations. But how are we going to trust the United States again? We reentered the negotiations. Then how can we know for sure that in the middle of the talks, the Israeli regime will not be given the permission again to attack us?”

White House envoy Steve Witkoff is planning to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Oslo next week to relaunch nuclear talks, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two sources familiar with the preparations.

The meeting would mark the first direct engagement since President Trump ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last month. Neither side has publicly acknowledged the planned talks.

Alleged Israeli assassination attempt

Pezeshkian said Israel had attempted to assassinate him, describing a strike on a meeting he attended. There was no immediate Israeli or independent corroboration of his claim.

“They did try, yes, and they acted accordingly, but they failed. I am not afraid of sacrificing myself in defense of my country."

Israeli escalation would only deepen regional instability, he warned.

“Will it bring peace and tranquility and stability to the region? It was not the US that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. But as I told you before, it is God who wills when a person will die.”

Pezeshkian framed the conflict as a product of Israeli ambitions and urged Washington to avoid becoming entangled.

“My proposal is that the US administration should refrain from getting involved in a war that is not America’s war. It is Netanyahu’s war that is having its own agenda … an inhuman agenda, and that is having forever wars, wars that go on and on.”

'Death to America' misunderstood

The Iranian president said that “Death to America” slogans were misunderstood. “They don’t mean death to the people of the United States, or even to the officials. They mean death to crime, death to killing and carnage, death to supporting killing others.”

Pezeshkian also said Ali Khamenei has no objection to the operation of US businesses in Iran even under the currency circumstances, and there has never been any limitation from Tehran’s side, attributing barriers to American sanctions.

"The Supreme Leader told me American investors are welcome in Iran. There is no limitation and there's nothing preventing the US investors from coming to Iran to make investments, even presently," he said.

“It is not to be in the interest of the United States to be involved in any kind of war in my region,” he said. “It is up to the United States president to choose … whether to replace war mongering and bloodshed with peace and tranquility.”

The charge was brought under Article 8 of the Law on Confronting Israeli Actions.

Ronaghi was arrested on June 23 by order of Tehran’s prosecutor and the Culture and Media Court, and a 30-day temporary detention order has been issued. He is being held in a Ministry of Intelligence safe house.

Ronaghi’s family has not been informed of his whereabouts, and his longtime lawyers, Saeed Jalilian and Milad Panahipour, have not been permitted to represent him.

Authorities have said only judiciary-approved lawyers are allowed in this case.

On Friday, UN experts, including Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, expressed concern over the detention of Ronaghi and his brother, Hassan.

The UN experts urged Iranian authorities to end the post-ceasefire crackdown, saying, “Post-conflict situations must not be used as an opportunity to suppress dissent and increase repression.”

In the past decade, the dissident activist has been arrested several times and has staged hunger strikes in prison. He was first arrested, along with his brother Hassan, in the aftermath of the disputed presidential elections in 2009 for assisting journalists and political activists to circumvent internet censorship. In addition, he was charged with insulting the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in his blog posts.

Ronaghi was also detained in September 2022 during the Woman, Life Freedom protests sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. He was detained along with his lawyers in front of the Evin Prison prosecutor's office. Iranian authorities later released Ronaghi on bail.