The managing editor of Iran's hardline Kayhan newspaper, Hossein Shariatmadari, has published an editorial demanding retaliation against US President Donald Trump over the killing of the country's late leader, Diplomacy-e Irani reported on July 7, citing Fars.

The piece is being read as a marker of the escalating rhetoric among Iranian hardliners following the death of the late supreme leader and his recent burial.

Shariatmadari framed his argument around what he described as a mass public demand for revenge voiced at the late leader's funeral, and cited statements by the late leader and the current supreme leader calling for retaliation against those responsible.

The editorial set out a series of demands aimed at Iranian officials, including a call for the state to formally designate Trump as "wajib al-qatl" (obligatory to be killed), the announcement of an official reward, a refusal to negotiate with him or his representatives, and a demand for his handover to Iran for trial.

Shariatmadari claimed that private individuals had raised more than $100mn as a reward for anyone who killed Trump, an assertion that could not be independently verified.

He wrote that Iranian officials should show signs of pursuing what he characterised as a legitimate demand of the leadership and the public, and argued that the country's negotiators should decline to sit at any table where Trump or his representatives were present.

Kayhan, whose managing editor is appointed by the supreme leader, is widely regarded as a barometer of hardline sentiment in Iran.

The hardline factionists who traditionally had the backing of Ali Khamenei, the former Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, have found themselves sidelined since his death. Reports from Iran and the US note his elusive replacement in the form of his son Mojtaba has greenlit talks and negotiations with the US. 

Mojtaba was not present at his father's funeral, according to official media in the country, adding further to speculation about his health and whereabouts.