Iran's new supreme leader vows 'inevitable revenge' as Tehran newspaper publishes hit list of 13 world leaders

The revenge declaration

Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father as Iran's supreme leader, issued his first public statement on Saturday following a six-day funeral procession held last week. Ali Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli strike on 28 February, the opening day of the military operation 'Epic Fury.' The younger Khamenei, reportedly wounded in the same attack and not seen in public since, delivered a written message framing retaliation as a national imperative.

This revenge is the will of our nation and it must be fulfilled, inevitably. These criminals, whose names appear on a list, will carry to their graves the desire for a peaceful death in their own beds.

The Hamshahri infographic

Hours after the statement, Hamshahri, a publication owned by the Tehran municipality and known for its militant ultraconservative tone, published the infographic online on Saturday evening. It features photographs of 13 senior officials and heads of state. Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu appear at the top with sniper-target graphics superimposed on their foreheads. The remaining 11 figures are shown wearing orange prison uniforms. The infographic did not appear in the newspaper's Sunday print edition, and Mojtaba Khamenei's statement did not name any individuals.

A list of those who must await revenge from the Iranian people.

The 13 names

Beyond Trump and Netanyahu, the list includes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and four European leaders: French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The infographic stops at 13 portraits; the remaining names on the list are not specified in any of the source reports.

European complicity accusations

Throughout the undeclared war, Tehran has repeatedly accused European nations of failing to condemn attacks on Iranian territory and of acting as accomplices by permitting American military aircraft to transit their airspace. This accusation is cited across multiple reports as the rationale for including European leaders alongside American and Israeli officials. One report notes that relations between Trump and Meloni cooled during the conflict precisely because Italy did not grant full access to its bases.

Assassination intelligence and Trump's response

US media reported this week that Iran had been developing a plan to assassinate Donald Trump. According to information Israel provided to the United States, a 'specific' plot existed. CNN reported that American authorities had been monitoring a steady stream of intelligence about possible assassination plans against the president. Trump told the New York Post in an interview published Friday that the Tehran regime intends to kill him and that he has left response instructions should such a scenario unfold. One report links the threat to Trump's decision to switch aircraft and use an older plane to depart the NATO summit held in Turkey.

What remains unclear

No evidence suggests the list was officially approved by Tehran authorities. The infographic was distributed online but withheld from the print edition. Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since before the war, and his statement was delivered in writing. The 13 portraits appear to reference the 'list' he mentioned, but the publication does not explicitly state that these are the names he meant.