Iranian cleric issues fatwa calling for killing unveiled women; judiciary opens case

TEHRAN, Iran — A conservative Iranian cleric, Mohammad Baqer Harazi, has called on his supporters to form street groups to confront unveiled women, issuing what he described as a fatwa that warned women who refuse to comply should be killed. According to recordings cited in reports, Harazi proposed mobilizing 50,000 people in Tehran to issue harsh warnings to women not wearing hijab, with those who reject the warnings to be killed. In a separate recording, Harazi proposed gathering 530 people from every Iranian city to form a crowd of roughly 250,000, who would be directed to Tehran to occupy the streets. He also called for a nuclear bomb to be detonated in the Atlantic Ocean to cause tsunamis aimed at the United States. Iran's judiciary announced that proceedings have been opened against Harazi and that he has been summoned to a special court for clerics. No further details were immediately available on the timeline of the proceedings or whether Harazi had responded to the summons. The calls come amid heightened scrutiny of officials around President Masoud Pezeshkian, after the Iranian leader's office earlier denied claims that the president might resign. No official comment from Pezeshkian's office on Harazi's remarks was immediately available.