“I condemn the insult to Your Excellency on behalf of the great nation of Iran, and declare that the desecration of Jesus, the prophet of peace and brotherhood, is not acceptable to any free person,” Pezeshkian said in a message to the pope on X. “I wish you glory by Allah.”
Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at Pezeshkian’s office, also condemned Trump’s comments, comparing the so-called “character assassination” of the pope to the assassination of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“When the great religious leader of the Islamic world is assassinated with such brazen audacity, and the Westerners watch in silence, it is hardly surprising that they would resort to assassinating the character of the great leader of the world’s Christians, His Holiness Pope Leo,” Tabatabai said.
In comments made yesterday, Trump said he was “not a fan of Pope Leo,” denouncing his stance on the Iran war and saying that the pontiff is “terrible for foreign policy.”
Leo pushed back against the criticism today, telling reporters: “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do.”
