Iranian cleric calls for death penalty for detained protesters in Iran

An Iranian cleric has known as for the dying penalty for protesters detained throughout a nationwide crackdown amid ongoing unrest towards the Islamic regime.

The cleric’s name follows President Donald Trump’s threats of US intervention if protesters are confronted with violence.

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami’s sermon, which was broadcast by Iran’s state radio, reportedly sparked chants from these gathered for prayers. The Related Press reported that chants included: “Armed hypocrites have to be put to dying!”

Throughout his sermon, Khatami gave the primary total statistics of harm from the protests, which started in late December, in response to the AP. This data offers an concept of ​​the size of the protests after the regime imposed a nationwide web blackout on January 8.

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Iranian senior cleric Ahmad Khatami delivers his sermon in the course of the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January 5, 2018. (Ebrahim Noroozi, file/AP picture)

The cleric claimed that 350 mosques, 126 prayer halls and 20 different holy websites had been broken, the AP reported. Khatami additionally claimed that 400 hospitals, 106 ambulances, 71 hearth engines and one other 50 emergency automobiles suffered harm.

One other 80 properties of Friday prayer leaders had been additionally reportedly broken, the AP reported, including that this could possibly be an indication that protesters are expressing their frustrations towards the federal government because the leaders maintain an essential place inside the Iranian theocracy.

“They need you to withdraw from the faith,” Khatami stated, in response to the AP. “They deliberate these crimes a very long time in the past.”

On this body shot from a video obtained by the AP, a masked protester holds a photograph of Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi throughout a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC through AP)

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Khatami, appointed by Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a member of the nation’s Meeting of Consultants and Guardian Council, had beforehand spoken out towards protesters. He described them as “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump’s troopers.”

Khamenei made related feedback, saying the protesters had been “destroying their very own streets to make the president of one other nation glad,” referring to Trump.

Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on January 9, 2026. (UGC through AP)

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Trump has been outspoken in his assist for the Iranian folks, saying early on that the US was “locked and loaded” and able to intervene if the regime used power towards protesters. It’s unclear if or when the US will take concrete motion in Iran, however hypothesis has swirled following the bombing of the nation’s nuclear websites in 2025 and the US seize of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Fox Information Digital has reached out to the White Home and State Division for remark.

The Related Press contributed to this report.