Pope Leo Calls Trump's Iran Threats 'Unacceptable' In Rare Rebuke, Urges People To Work For Peace

Last Updated:April 08, 2026, 01:43 IST

In his strongest comments on the war, Pope Leo called Trump's threats "truly unacceptable" and that attacks on civilian infrastructure violated international law.

In a rare rebuke, Pope Leo on Tuesday called US President Donald Trump’s threats against the people of Iran “truly unacceptable" and called on people to contact their political representatives and work for peace.

“Today, as we all know, there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable," the pope said in his strongest comments so far against the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran. “There are certainly issues here of international law, but even more than that, it is a moral question for the good of the (world’s) people."

Even though Pope Leo had been an outspoken critic of the war, it was rare for him to directly criticise a world leader. The American pope also called on citizens across the world to contact their political representatives and ask them to bring the expanding regional conflict to an end.

The pontiff reiterated his Easter message from this past Sunday, calling on people “to search always for peace and not violence, to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war which is continuing to escalate and which is not resolving anything."

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“People want peace. I would invite the citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen — to ask them to work for peace," he added. Pope Leo also emphasised that attacks on civilian infrastructure was against international law and urged people to remember the innocent people who were victims of “this continued warfare".

His remarks came as he left his country house in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, just hours before Trump’s deadline for Iran to capitulate and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Last week, the pope had urged Trump to find an “off-ramp" to end the conflict.

The pope’s rare criticism came after Trump shocked global leaders by saying that “a whole civilisation will die tonight" if Iran fails to reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his stipulated deadline of Tuesday, 8 PM Eastern Time.

“A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?" he said.

Trump’s remarks have been criticised by politicians and human rights organisations as inciting genocide and possibly suggesting a nuclear attack on Iran, though the White House has dismissed that possibility.

(with inputs from agencies)

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