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Amid the lack of clarity of the open or shut of Strait of Hormuz – an online graphic published by Tehran based Hamshahri – (a Iranian national Persian-language newspaper in Tehran) has ignited tensions after it named 13 foreign leaders who are in the ‘revenge list’ following the death of Iran’s former supreme leader – Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
An Iranian newspaper, Hamshahri, published a graphic listing 13 foreign leaders, including Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, on a ‘revenge list’ following Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death, after Mojtaba Khamenei vowed vengeance would be carried out.
The graphic circulated on Saturday had the faces of all the leaders who are in the target by Iran. At the top it had – US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu with sniper style crosshairs place on their foreheads. Whereas the other leaders depicted in orange prison uniforms that includes British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and more.
Mojtaba Khamenei message raises alarm
Based on the statement carried by Hamshahri, Mojtaba Khamenei said “Vengeance is the will of our nation and must inevitably be carried out.” He added, “These criminals, whose names appear on a list, will take to their graves the wish of a peaceful death in their beds.”
One must know that this message was presented as Mojtaba’s first public address after the six day long funeral of his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It must be noted that there has been no official statement based on the message and a formal endorsement by Iran.
Hamshahri is published by Tehran’s municipal authorities and is known for an aggressive editorial tone. According to AFP, the graphic did not appear in the newspaper’s Sunday print edition.
The variation matters as Iran’s political messages often involves multiple voices – including institutions, state aligned media and hardline outlets.
Irans “Hamshahri” newspaper publishes the Islamic Republics retaliatory targets. ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฅ pic.twitter.com/kYwHhABM1m
โ IRGC (@IRGC_Press) July 11, 2026
Who was named in the revenge list?
According to the graphic the names of the leaders are:
Top:
Benjamin Netanyahu – Prime Minister of Israel
Donald Trump – President of the United States
Second row:
3. Israel Katz – Israeli Minister of Defense
4. Tom Barrack – U.S. Ambassador (the Persian caption identifies him as the U.S. representative/ambassador)
5. Pete Hegseth – U.S. Secretary of Defense
6. Marco Rubio – U.S. Secretary of State
Third row:
7. Mike Huckabee – U.S. Ambassador to Israel
8. Eyal Zamir – Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
9. Giorgia Meloni – Prime Minister of Italy
10. Gideon Sa’ar – Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bottom row:
11. Friedrich Merz – Chancellor of Germany
12. Emmanuel Macron – President of France
13. Keir Starmer – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In the graphic image one can notice that the leaders are wearing orange prison uniforms and such a type can be read as a symbolic message linking to threats against the senior national officials.
Trump assassination reports add to security concerns
This threat comes as US media reported that American officials had been monitoring intelligence about possible Iranian threats. CNN also reported that Israel had shared tip with Washington about what described as a assassination plot targeting Donald Trump.
However, Trump addressed the issue and said, “They want to take out the US leader – me. I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m on every single one of their lists,” he said.
Ceasefire strain and Strait of Hormuz risk
The latest chaos between Iran and the US is the ceasefire. The US carried out strikes on around 140 targets on Sunday morning after attacks on commercial vessels in the region. On this Iran said the vessels were on an unapproved route. Tehran thus declared closure of Strait Of Hormuz until next notice.
The closure is a threat as even a temporary warning impacts the price of oil impacting the economies of the fuel importing countries.
