TEHRAN -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Saturday criticized Muslim leaders for failing to stand firm against Israel, stressing that Iran will continue to support the Palestinian nation in any way it can.
“If the Islamic governments had stood firm on the issue of Palestine from the first day and resisted, the situation in the West Asian region would certainly have been different and the Islamic Ummah would have been stronger and more united today,” he told a group of foreign representatives and ambassadors and participants of an international Qur’an contest in Tehran on Saturday.
The Leader made the statements on the occasion of Eid al-Mab’ath, which marks the day Prophet Muhammad (Peace upon Him) was chosen as God’s messenger.
“If the Islamic countries had followed the teachings of the Ba’that, the evil Zionist regime would not have been able to commit atrocities and crimes against the oppressed Palestinians before the eyes of the Islamic nation,” he said.
Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that the Iranian nation and its Islamic establishment will continue to fulfill their duties with regard to Palestine. He touched on the clear positions of the Islamic Republic in support of the oppressed Palestinians, saying Iran “has no reservations in openly supporting and defending the Palestinian nation.”
“The Islamic establishment will continue to help the Palestinians in any way it can,” the Leader added.
He touched on the enemies’ focus on Iranophobia, saying “unfortunately, the governments that are obliged to help the Palestinian nation themselves have joined the Iranophobia project of the enemies of Islam”.
Since the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Khamenei said, the enemies have lined up against the Iranian nation with military, economic, political and propaganda war, but the people of Iran have thwarted all conspiracies of the domineering powers with their exemplary perseverance.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the issue of Palestine as one of the important weaknesses and wounds of the Islamic Ummah.
“A nation and a country is being subjected to endless and daily oppression before the watching eyes of the Islamic world by a barbaric, evil and wicked regime and Islamic countries with all their wealth, capacity and ability only look and even some of these countries, especially recently, collaborate with this bloodthirsty regime.”
The end result, Ayatollah Khamenei said, is the weakening the countries which keep silent in the face
of crimes and cooperate with the Zionists.
“The situation has reached a point where America, France and several other countries, claiming to solve the problems of Muslims, have given themselves the right to interfere in the Islamic world, while they are helpless and unable to solve their problems and manage their countries.”
The Leader said important political issues such as Palestine and the U.S. interference should be the focus of the Islamic Ummah in any situation.
He also expressed sorrow over the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, which has left many victims, saying all Muslims should share their pain and tribulation.