The Pope has infuriated Iranians after awarding the Vatican's top honour to Tehran's ambassador months after the Islamic Republic massacred innocent protesters.
Leo XIV also risked reigniting his row with Donald Trump for presenting Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari with the Grand Cross of the Pontifical Order of Pius IX.
The decision to grant it was confirmed by a diploma dated May 8 and signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, according to Info Vaticana news site.
Activists have slammed the decision as 'a shameful insult' to the tens of thousands who were slaughtered in the January protests in Iran.
Concerningly, regime friendly media jumped on the announcement saying it shows the murderous theocracy is 'serving the cause of peace and dialogue'.
Iran's WANA News Agency said the award recognises 'the ongoing efforts of the Iranian Embassy in the Vatican to promote messages of peace, justice, and opposition to warmongering'.
Other mouthpieces framed the award as a 'significant political signal' from the Pope after his 'firm stances against the US war' with Iran - which will likely enrage Mr Trump.
Last night the US Embassy in the Vatican pushed back at Tehran's claims and stressed the honour is given to all ambassadors after two years' service.
Leo XIV also risked reigniting his row with Donald Trump for presenting Mohammad Hossein Mokhtari with the Grand Cross of the Pontifical Order of Pius IX
The decision to grant it was confirmed by a diploma dated May 8 and signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, according to Info Vaticana news site
Activists have slammed the decision as 'a shameful insult' to the tens of thousands who were slaughtered in the January protests in Iran
However, Attieh Fard, solicitor and director of United Christian Activists which highlights human rights abuses in Iran, said the honour was still a 'deeply distressing signal'.
Ms Fard accepted that it is normal protocol for the Grand Cross to be given to ambassadors who have been stationed in the Vatican for several years but criticised the timing.
She told the Mail: 'This gesture, just weeks after the massacre of reportedly 42,000 innocent people over two days, ongoing imprisonment of Iranian Christians and executions in Iran was painful to see.
'Our concern does not arise from hostility toward dialogue, reconciliation, or peacebuilding. We appreciate that the Holy See plays an important international role promoting engagement between nations.
'However, diplomacy must remain accompanied by moral clarity, compassion for the oppressed, courage to stand for the truth, accountability to promote justice, alongside visible solidarity with persecuted communities.
'For us, the Cross is not merely a decoration of honor. The Cross reminds us of Christ, who stood beside the condemned, the humiliated, and the voiceless.'
The Grand Cross is the highest active diplomatic distinction of the Vatican and is mainly awarded to heads of state and high diplomatic representatives.
The Iranian Ambassador has served in the Vatican since December 2023 suggesting the Pope was simply following diplomatic protocol to hand him the award last Friday.
But the decision to hand it out during the Iran war while teenage activists are being hanged and following the bloodiest crackdown on peaceful protesters in modern history is highly controversial.
British-Iranian activist Ali Taranssari also slammed the move. He said: 'The Vatican's decision to award the Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX, its highest diplomatic honour, to the ambassador of the Islamic Republic is a shameful insult to the Iranian people and to every victim of this murderous regime.
'To decorate the representative of a terrorist regime responsible for massacres, executions, torture, hostage-taking, religious persecution and the oppression of Iranians is not interfaith dialogue, it is moral blindness.
'More than 40,000 Iranians have been massacred by this regime in January alone, and Christians, converts, men, women, dissidents and minorities continue to be executed under its rule.
'For the Vatican to honour an ambassador of the Islamic Republic in the name of peace is grotesque. The Iranian community is outraged, and we urge the Vatican to immediately withdraw this award and apologise to the people of Iran.'
The Order of Pius IX—also known as the Pian Order—was instituted by Pope Pius IX in 1847 and is considered one of the highest honorary distinctions of the Holy See.
The US Embassy in the Vatican said last night that contrary to Iranian media reports this was not an 'exclusive special honor' to the Iranian Ambassador.
It said: 'This decoration is given to all accredited ambassadors to the Holy See after 2+ years of service and has been standard practice for many years.
'It is a personal recognition and does not imply support or opposition to any policy or country.
'Thirteen ambassadors were recently given this recognition. Previous U.S. ambassadors have all received the same.
'Finally, the decoration was not given in person by the pope.'
The decision to grant it to Mokhtari comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio flew to the Vatican last week to attempt to patch up relations after repeated attacks by Mr Trump.
The President had accused the Pope of 'endangering a lot of Catholics' saying the spiritual leader 'thinks it's just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon' just days earlier.
Leo dismissed the claim, pointing out that 'for years, the Catholic Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so let there be no doubt on that point'.
It followed a spat over the Iran war in which Mr Trump provoked outrage with a hastily deleted AI image where he appeared to depict himself as Jesus Christ.
The President later claimed the image was him as a doctor, rather than Jesus.
The Vatican has been approached for comment.