Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the United States’ so-called “deal of the century” to resolve the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine is an exercise in futility and destined to fail.
“The Americans have called their vicious policy toward Palestine ‘deal of the century’. However, they should be aware that, with the grace of Almighty, this deal will never be achieved, and the issue of Palestine will never slip into oblivion to the dismay of American leaders,” he said at a meeting with hajj organizers in Tehran on Monday, his official website reported.
Peace Plan
US President Donald Trump says he is working on an initiative billed as the “deal of the century” that will bring peace to Israel and Palestine, though few details are available.
On December 6, 2017, Trump made clear that his so-called peace deal will indeed favor Israel when he officially recognized Jerusalem (Beit-ul-Moqaddas) as Israel’s capital. That led Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to brand Trump’s peace efforts as “the slap of the century” and say that the US could no longer play any role in the Middle East peace process, according to Al Jazeera.
Abbas held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on July 14, in which he raised concerns over the US-initiated proposal and transfer of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Beit-ul-Moqaddas in May, the Middle East Eye reported.
Muslim Unity
Ayatollah Khamenei said Muslim nations should unite to support the Palestinians in the face of US conspiracies and Israeli crimes. “Al-Quds will remain the capital of Palestine,” he told the visitors.
In an apparent reference to the house of Saud, he criticized “ignorant” Muslim governments who are helping Washington advance its covert agenda in the strategic region. The Leader said hajj creates a great opportunity for Muslims to strengthen their ranks to help resolve issues facing the Ummah.
Death of Iranians
He called on the relevant officials to pursue the cases involving the death of Iranian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia in 2015 through legal channels so that the victims’ families can be compensated.
“A fact-finding committee should be formed with the participation of the Islamic Republic,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding that Saudi officials had failed in their duty to protect the pilgrims.
In the worst disaster to strike the annual pilgrimage for 25 years, nearly 800 people were killed, according to Riyadh, when two large groups of pilgrims arrived at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometers east of Mecca on September 24, 2015.
Counts by countries where bodies were repatriated showed over 2,000 people died, including more than 400 Iranians.
Tehran blamed the disaster on the mismanagement and incompetence of the Saudis. But authorities in the kingdom suggested at the time that some pilgrims had ignored regulations guiding the movements of pilgrims.
Two weeks before the crush, 110 people, including 11 Iranians, died in Mecca’s Grand Mosque when a crane working on an urban expansion project collapsed during a storm and toppled off the roof into the main courtyard.
Iran did not attend the pilgrimage in 2016 amid uncooperative Saudi approach but sent 90,000 Iranians to attend the hajj in Islam’s holiest site last year after the kingdom promised to uphold stringent safety rules.
Pilgrims from Iran will take part in this year’s hajj, one of the pillars of Islam that every Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford and are physically able.
