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Pope Leo XIV has named Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari, Iran’s ambassador to the Vatican, a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Pontifical Order of Pius IX, according to a certificate dated May 8 and signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope’s Secretary of State.

The honor raises the Iranian envoy to one of the most senior classes of the highest active papal order, founded in 1847 by Pope Pius IX and conferred today on senior diplomats and heads of state.

By itself, the award is not unusual. By Vatican custom, the Grand Cross is ordinarily conferred on resident ambassadors to the Holy See after roughly two years in post, and Mokhtari presented his credentials to Pope Francis in December 2023 — two and a half years before Cardinal Parolin signed this certificate.

But Iranian state media is not treating this as a routine retirement honor. PressTV and the West Asia News Agency are running the certificate alongside images of Mokhtari with Pope Leo XIV, framing the medal as a counter-signal from an American pope to a wartime American president — a quiet diplomatic verdict on Donald Trump’s bombing campaign against Iran

The timing is for them the story.

Top conservatives in the United States seem to agree. Some went to X (formerly Twitter) to express their dismay, including Fox News host Brian Kilmeade.

Brian Kilmeade@kilmeade

This can’t be real

Megatron @Megatron_ron

NEW:🇮🇷🇻🇦Pope Leo XIV presented Iran’s ambassador to the Vatican, Ayatollah Hossein Mokhtari, with the highest diplomatic honor of the Vatican, the ‘Order of Pius’ The medal was awarded for Iran’s extraordinary contributions to peace and interfaith cooperation between Christians

9:09 PM · May 12, 2026 · 60.7K Views

347 Replies · 283 Reposts · 1.04K Likes

Rod Dreher@roddreher

Megatron @Megatron_ron

NEW:🇮🇷🇻🇦Pope Leo XIV presented Iran’s ambassador to the Vatican, Ayatollah Hossein Mokhtari, with the highest diplomatic honor of the Vatican, the ‘Order of Pius’ The medal was awarded for Iran’s extraordinary contributions to peace and interfaith cooperation between Christians

9:19 PM · May 12, 2026 · 12.5K Views

21 Replies · 29 Reposts · 133 Likes

Eyal Yakoby@EYakoby

Pope Leo XIV bestowed the Vatican’s highest diplomatic honor upon the Islamic Republic’s Ambassador, Ayatollah Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari. The man is part of a regime that slaughtered 42,000 of its own people and imposes the death penalty on Muslims who convert to Christianity.

8:35 PM · May 12, 2026 · 33.2K Views

325 Replies · 652 Reposts · 1.16K Likes

Eyal Yakoby@EYakoby

This is genuinely so insane.

10:55 PM · May 12, 2026 · 1.95K Views

3 Replies · 4 Reposts · 125 Likes