Khamenei blasts ‘treasonous’ Bahrain peace deal confab, ‘usurping enemy’ Israel
In Eid al-Fitr comments, Iranian supreme leader lashes ‘anti-democratic’ regime in Manama, vows Trump peace deal ‘will never be realized’
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday lashed the US-initiated conference slated for later this month in Bahrain in which the Trump administration is expected to launch part of its peace initiative between Israelis and Palestinians.
He called Israel a “usurping enemy,” and urged “resistance” by Muslims until Israelis “surrender to [the Palestinian] nation’s will.”
The Iranian leader also accused Bahrain’s leaders of “weakness” and an “anti-democratic” spirit in hosting a US-led event.
“Some Islamic countries have betrayed the issue of Palestine by taking treasonous measures,” Khamenei said in a statement on Twitter following similar comments made in a speech at Eid al-Fitr prayers in Tehran.
“The summit that is to take place in Bahrain belongs to the US but Bahraini rulers’ weakness and anti-democratic, anti-Islamic spirit has led them to hold the summit,” Khamenei charged.
“The purpose of the summit is to implement the treasonous, vicious US plot that they call ‘Deal of the Century.’ Of course this will not happen and the Deal of the Century will never be realized, God willing,” he said.
The conference in Bahrain, slated for June 25-26, is to be part of the roll-out of the Trump administration’s much-touted, but as yet still vague, peace plan for Israelis and Palestinians.
The conference is being boycotted by the Palestinian leadership and nearly the entirety of the Palestinian business community. The Palestinian Authority has had almost no ties with the US administration since US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December 2017.
PA officials have charged that the Bahrain summit is meant to convince Palestinians to surrender their political aspirations for independence in exchange for international investment and economic prosperity.
“The ‘Deal of the Century’ is a major act of treason against the World of Islam,” Khamenei added on Wednesday. “We thank Muslim & Arab countries & Palestinian groups that opposed the deal. We hope Bahraini & Saudi rulers will understand what a quagmire they’re stepping into & how harmful it will be for them.”
The Iranian regime opposes Israel’s existence and has long supported Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, opposed to a peace agreement with Israel.
In his Twitter comments, Khamenei went on to complain that “there are Islamic countries with Muslim nations but remiss rulers who ally with Zionist regime rather than opposing it & fight against Muslims.”
He insisted that Tehran did not seek to see Jews “thrown to the sea,” but believed the “Palestinian nation’s pervasive fight including military, political & cultural resistance should persist until usurpers surrender to this nation’s will.”
And he called on Muslims to battle the “usurping enemy in the heart of Muslim countries—i.e. Palestine,” which was “criminally active. This obliges Muslims to prevent it from committing crimes. Instead, there are governents in the World of Islam that compromise with it while attacking their brethren. The door to repentance is open.”
Khamenei called for a referendum by “Muslim, Christian & Jewish residents of #Palestine & Palestinian refugees on governing system. Till then, Resistance should continue; by God’s grace Palestinians will be victorious; youth will see the day Palestine is returned to Palestinians.”
The Times of Israel Community.