Hardline heavyweight urges Iran officials to avenge Khamenei’s death

A Qatari delegation visited Iran on Friday in an effort to ease tensions and strengthen Doha’s role as a mediator following the latest escalation between Tehran and Washington, according to reports.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency said the visit followed what it described as Qatari accusations against Iran over an incident in the Strait of Hormuz and subsequent US attacks on Iranian military and civilian targets.

A source familiar with the talks told Reuters that Qatari negotiators were meeting Iranian officials to de-escalate tensions and create conditions for broader negotiations, adding that the effort was being coordinated with Washington.

US President Donald Trump said Iran had asked to continue talks with Washington but warned that the ceasefire between the two countries was over.

“We have agreed to Iran talks, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the ceasefire is over,” Trump said.

His comments come after renewed military exchanges between the two countries raised questions over the future of the temporary memorandum of understanding signed last month.

The National Security (State Threats) Act 2026 gives the Home Secretary authority to designate organizations reasonably believed to be involved in foreign power threat activity if doing so is considered necessary to protect the UK's safety or interests.

The legislation follows a 2025 review by Jonathan Hall KC, the UK's Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation, which recommended introducing proscription-style powers for state-linked organizations. Hall said the new framework would, for example, allow the government to designate the IRGC.

"Keeping our country and communities safe is the first duty of any government," Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said. "Under these new powers, we're going further to dismantle and deter hostile activity."

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  UK minister says new state-threat bill could pave way for IRGC designation

The law makes it a criminal offence to support, assist or receive a material benefit from a designated organization, with penalties of up to 14 years in prison.

It is intended to target groups acting on behalf of foreign states, including those accused of targeting dissidents, carrying out cyber attacks or threatening critical infrastructure.

The IRGC is already designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and Canada and several other countries. The new legislation does not automatically designate any organization, but provides the legal mechanism for ministers to do so if they consider the statutory tests have been met.

The Home Office said designations will be made without delay when judged necessary, while exemptions remain for legitimate diplomatic, humanitarian and journalistic engagement.

The governing council of the UN shipping agency called on countries Friday to reject Iran’s efforts to assert sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and its creation of a body claiming authority over traffic through the waterway.

The non-binding decision by the International Maritime Organization’s council “strongly condemned” Tehran’s move to establish an entity seeking to control passage through the strait and urged member states not to recognize any Iranian action aimed at obstructing international navigation.

Iran’s recently created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said in June that vessels would need permits to pass through the waterway.

Iran rejected the criticism as politically motivated, saying its measures did not amount to closing the strait.

The message had been set in advance by the Friday Prayer Policy Council, which announced that weekly services nationwide would become “Fridays of Blood Vengeance and Revenge” until those blamed for Khamenei’s killing were punished.

The council said revenge was not an emotional response but a “strategic” and religious duty, explicitly naming US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Carrying out retribution against the principal criminals – particularly the criminal Trump and the child-killing Netanyahu – is an unchanging element of divine justice,” its statement said.

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  Revenge becomes Iran's language of unity after Khamenei’s death

It went further, saying every person or group with the ability to act had a duty to “rise for jihad” and carry out the task without delay. The council said banners calling for vengeance for Khamenei would remain beside Friday prayer pulpits until retribution was achieved.

The language was repeated across major cities.

In Mashhad, where Khamenei was buried, Friday prayer leader Ahmad Alamolhoda said retaliation must be seen by the public rather than remain an unfulfilled promise.

“Revenge and blood vengeance for the martyred leader must remain before the eyes of the people, and the people must see it with their own eyes,” he said. “Only then will real revenge have been taken.”

Saeed Jalili, the Supreme Leader’s representative to the Supreme National Security Council, told worshippers in Mashhad that revenge was a national right and a responsibility for officials.

“If you say Iran’s assets must be released, the greatest asset of our nation was its beloved leader,” Jalili said. “Today, the nation’s right is to defend this great asset through revenge, and it is the duty of officials to pursue it.”

Bushehr’s interim Friday prayer leader Yousef Jamali said worshippers would continue chanting for revenge until the United States and Israel were punished.

“We will stand alongside the officials and the armed forces and, God willing, bring the White House down on its occupants,” Jamali said. “Know that the sword of our revenge will fall upon the oppressors.”

In Rasht, cleric Rasoul Falahati linked revenge to the dispute over the US-Iran memorandum and navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Negotiating in the middle of a war is meaningless,” he said. “Under the recent understanding, we opened the Strait of Hormuz, but America fulfilled none of its commitments and instead moved to further reinforce its bases.”

He said Muslims and “free nations” around the world were ready to take revenge on Trump and Netanyahu and urged Iran’s armed forces to respond firmly to any further US action.

Tehran Friday prayer leader Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi Fard also accused Washington of violating the memorandum and rejected any US role in the strategic waterway.

“We explicitly declare that under no circumstances will the United States be allowed to interfere in the affairs of the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

In Qom, Alireza Arafi described revenge against those who carried out and ordered Khamenei’s killing as a legal and religious right that would not be forgotten.

Shiraz interim Friday prayer leader Adel Hajipour used almost identical language, saying the destruction of those responsible was a public demand.

In Malayer, Mohammad-Ali Arzandeh said Friday prayers would remain “Fridays of revenge and blood vengeance” until Israel was destroyed and those blamed for regional insecurity were eliminated.