Iranian daily publishes 'hit list' naming Trump, Netanyahu and Starmer among others

As the fragile ceasefire has started to fall apart with fresh US strikes on Iran and Tehran retaliating by targeting Washington’s military bases in the region, a conservative newspaper in the Islamic Republic has published a list of people to be targeted in revenge for the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death.

The list, published by the regime-backed Hamshahri newspaper, includes US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Iran newspaper publishes hit list

The list also features US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The development comes days after Trump claimed that he was at the top of Iran’s "kill list".

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The late Iranian Supreme Leader was killed in joint strikes by the US and Israel on February 28, the first day of the war. His son and the current Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, have vowed to avenge his father’s death.

“Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out," Mojtaba said on Saturday (July 11) in his first message since his father’s funeral.

"These criminals, whose names appear on a list, will take to their graves the wish of a peaceful death in their beds,” he added as quoted by the AFP.

Media escalates rhetoric

Meanwhile, the Iranian media have hailed the death of US Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Trump, with the daily Hamshahri warning that the American leader and other senior officials could face a "sudden death." The remarks come as Tehran's media intensifies its rhetoric following the veteran Republican's passing.

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Hamshahri devoted its front page to an illustration of Trump kneeling beside Graham's image, alongside US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other American and Israeli figures. The headline read: "Get Ready for Sudden Death."

Front pages fuel tensions

Another newspaper, Vatan-e Emrooz, carried Graham's death on its July 13 front page under the headline "Death of the Merchant of Death." The Daily described the South Carolina senator as a leading advocate of Washington's hardline policies towards Iran and reported that he died after what it called a "sudden illness."

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The rhetoric escalated further when an Iranian state television newsreader declared, "I congratulate the Iranian nation on warmongering anti-Iran US Senator Lindsey Graham being sent to hell."

The broadcasts have since fuelled speculation among supporters of Trump's MAGA movement, many of whom pointed to previous death threats issued by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) while demanding an investigation into Graham's death.