Khamenei urges Gulf states to unite against ‘real enemy’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has urged Muslim countries, particularly Gulf states, to overcome their divisions and unite against what he described as their “real enemy”.

In a written message published on his Telegram account to mark Islamic Unity Week, Khamenei called for greater unity and cooperation among Muslim nations, including mutual defence.

“My emphatic and repeated recommendation to the rulers of Islamic countries, especially the countries of West Asia and the Gulf, is to identify your real enemy, understand his plan and confront it,” he said.

Khamenei warned that those who create divisions among Muslims, “knowingly or unknowingly”, serve the interests of Islam’s enemies. He also questioned whether Palestinians would have been left “so helpless” had the Muslim world remained united.

The Iranian leader specifically addressed Gulf Arab rulers, asking whether others would have dared to covet their lands and possessions if the region’s governments and peoples had been united “under the flag of Islam”, Reuters reports.

The remarks come against the backdrop of longstanding tensions between Tehran and the Gulf Arab monarchies, which have viewed Iran’s revolutionary ideology, anti-monarchic rhetoric and regional influence with suspicion since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Those tensions have deepened during the ongoing regional conflict started after US-Israel’s aggression against Iran and Palestine, with Tehran striking US military facilities and other infrastructure in Gulf states.

Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and that Tehran was in no hurry to reopen the strategically vital waterway, according to Al Jazeera.