No, Iran’s Constitution does not state that Israel must be destroyed
FactCheck Bulgaria verified the claims of politicians, an expert on the Middle East and journalists that Iran’s constitution explicitly states that Israel must be destroyed
Teodora Stanimirova, Factcheck Bulgaria, April 28, 2026
Key points
Iran’s Constitution does not state that Israel must be destroyed;
A bill calling for the destruction of Israel was indeed proposed for debate in the Iranian parliament in 2021, but there is no information that it was passed;
The two countries had good diplomatic relations before the Iranian Revolution, but today Iran does not recognize Israel, and calls for its destruction are a constant feature of political discourse in the country.
Background
Claims that the destruction of Israel is enshrined in the Iranian Constitution are circulating in the media. Following the attack on Iran by the U.S. and Israel in late February of this year, hosts Bozhidar Rusev of Darik Radio and Tsvetanka Rizova of bTV stated on air that such texts exist in the constitution/doctrine regarding Iran’s existence. The claim was also repeated by MP from the party There is Such a people Tosho Yordanov, as well as by Arabist Prof. Vladimir Chukov in early April.
“In any case, the destruction of Israel is enshrined in the Constitution (of Iran—ed.),” Tsvetanka Rizova, host of “Face to Face,” March 13, 2026.
“Isn’t it written in Iran’s doctrine of existence that the primary goal is the destruction of Israel?” – Bozhidar Rusev, host of “Darik’s Week,” February 28, 2026.
“You know that Iran’s doctrine is to wipe the Jewish state off the face of the earth”—Toshko Yordanov on “Face to Face” on April 9, 2026. Host Tsvetanka Rizova corrected her statement from March, refuting Yordanov’s claim that no such text exists in the Iranian Constitution.
The claim began circulating as early as last year. On June 13, 2025, when Israel launched strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military bases, the program “Face to Face” invited Arabist Prof. Vladimir Chukov, who claimed that:
“There is a provision in the Iranian Constitution stating that the Supreme Leader governs in the absence of the Messiah. […] And when will he return? When the State of Israel is wiped out.” He repeated this claim on April 7, 2026, as a guest on the program “Darik’s Week”: “As long as the Islamic Republic of Iran exists with this Constitution, with Article 5, in which they await the Messiah who will return when he destroys the Antichrist—the Antichrist being the entity that occupies Jerusalem —that is, when the state of Israel is destroyed, then, according to their views and beliefs, the universal, ideal state—that is, an Islamic state—will come into being. As long as this state is called an Islamic Republic, […] Israel will simply always be under threat.”
On June 21, 2025, former Foreign Minister and founder of the Atlantic Club Solomon Passy also reiterated this information on “The Day Begins with Georgi Lyubenov”: “Iran has the desire to destroy someone. Their constitution and all other documents clearly state that their primary goal is the destruction of Israel. This is a declared primary goal.”
Fact-check
A fact-check by Factcheck.bg showed that the claim is false. Although anti-Israel rhetoric is a constant feature of political discourse in Iran, the country’s Constitution makes no mention of Israel. It does mention Jews as a state-recognized religious minority with the right to elect one representative to the Iranian Consultative Assembly. The fact-check revealed that there is no separate text bearing the name “Doctrine of Iran’s Existence.”
Iran and Israel maintained good diplomatic and economic relations until the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Afterward, Tehran adopted a negative stance toward Israel. The leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, claimed that Israel is an instrument of Western imperialism (specifically the United States) and, as such, a threat to Islam and stability in the region. Khomeini’s successor, Ali Khamenei, has continued this policy, having expressed public support for Hamas following the terrorist group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Khamenei’s regime consistently employs anti-Israel rhetoric and aligns itself with the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah and Hamas.
Iran does not recognize the state of Israel, referring to it as the “Zionist regime.” In 2015, Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei,stated that “there will be no Zionist regime in 25 years.” In January 2021, a bill for the destruction of Israel by 2041 was drafted. The proposal is a response to the assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
According to Article 5 of the bill: “The government is obligated to implement the following measures to destroy the usurping Zionist regime by 1420 (2041),” with the measures referring to support for the Palestinian resistance.
The slogan “Death to Israel,” sometimes accompanied by the burning of Israeli flags, is frequently repeated in Iran. One of the most famous instances of its use is a statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005–2013), who paraphrased Khomeini’s words. Angel Orbetsov—a diplomat and lecturer in Persian history and the Persian language—told Factcheck.bg that “when Iranian leaders say such things, they do not mean that they will set about destroying Israel, but that God will strike down this state that has embedded itself in the heart of the Muslim world. In the Muslim world, there is a prevailing view that Israel is, as they call it, a ‘cancerous growth’ in the Arab world.
Verified
The destruction of Israel is not enshrined in the Iranian Constitution. A bill calling for the destruction of Israel was indeed proposed for debate in the Iranian parliament in 2021, but as of today, there is no information regarding its adoption. The two countries had good diplomatic relations prior to the Iranian Revolution, but as of today, Iran does not recognize the State of Israel and refers to it as the “Zionist regime.” Calls for its destruction are a constant feature of political discourse
Consultant on the topic
Vladimir Mitev, journalist and founder of the “Persian Bridge of Friendship” platform
Sources
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Wilson Center, Iran: Threatening in Rhetoric, Cautious in Action?: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/iran-threatening-rhetoric-cautious-action
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