Iran’s Khamenei predicts Palestinians will soon establish government in Tel Aviv

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicts that the Palestinians will soon be able to “establish a government in Tel Aviv.”

“As for the recent years, the victory of the Palestinian people has not meant being able to establish a government in Tel Aviv;— of course that will come true by God’s help,” he says, according to a readout of the meeting posted on the Iranian leader’s website.

“However, the main victory has been the fact that the Zionist regime — which Arab armies failed to defeat — was brought to its knees by the Palestinian people and the resistance; and by God’s will, you will achieve greater victories.”

It is not immediately clear why Khamenei referred to Tel Aviv. The seat of Israel’s government is Jerusalem. Many in the international community refuse to recognize the city as Israel’s capital, but expect it to become the shared capital of Israel and a future Palestinian state. The Palestinians have never expressed interest in establishing a government in Tel Aviv.

— Raphael Ahren