TEHRAN – Arab nations that normalized ties with the Zionist regime last year have “sinned” and should reverse such moves, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Sunday.
“Some governments have unfortunately made errors – have made big errors and have sinned in normalizing [their relations] with the usurping and oppressive Zionist regime,” the Leader told Iranian officials and foreign participants at the 35th International Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran on Sunday.
“It is an act against Islamic unity, they must return from this path and make up for this big mistake,” Ayatollah Khamenei added, in a speech marking a public holiday honouring the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco agreed to normalize ties with the Zionist regime in 2020, as Washington under the administration of then-U.S. president Donald Trump made rapprochement a foreign policy priority.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the unity of Muslims is a “definite duty and a Qur’anic order”.
The annual conference held on the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (Peace upon Him) brings together Shia and Sunni scholars, intellectuals, researchers and professors from around the world, with the Leader saying they have a duty to explain and promote the “comprehensive of Islam in all matters of life”.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the reason for his repeated emphasis on the issue of unity is the big schism which exists among religions, with the enemies striving seriously to widen it.
“You see that the issue of being a Sunni or a Shia has entered the American political literature for several years, while they are against the quintessence of Islam and hostile to it,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the U.S. campaign to stoke sedition among Islamic countries with the help of its proxies.
“The recent unfortunate and distressing explosions at mosques targeting Muslim worshipers in Afghanistan are among such incidents that were carried out by Daesh,” the Leader said.
“Who is Daesh? Daesh is the same outfit that the Americans — the same Democratic group of the United States — explicitly said ‘we created’, even though they are not saying it anymore and deny it.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said one of the ways to prevent such incidents is for the current Afghan officials to attend Shia centers and mosques and encourage Sunni Muslims to participate in inter-religious congregations.
“It is not possible to achieve the important goal of creating a new Islamic civilization without the unity of Shias and Sunnis,” the Leader said.
“The Islamic unity is a matter of principle, not a tactical issue for special occasions,” he said, adding that unity among Muslims will create synergy and strengthen them in
interacting with non-Islamic countries.
“The main yardstick for the unity of Muslims is the issue of Palestine. The more seriousness is shown on the restoration of the rights of the Palestinians, the stronger the Islamic unity will be,” the Leader said.
Ayatollah Khamenei called Islam a comprehensive religion and the birth of the Seal of the Prophets - Prophet Muhammad (Peace upon Him) - a very great event and the beginning of a new era of divine blessings in human life.
The Leader said the two important tasks for the Islamic nations are to explain and promote the comprehensiveness of Islam in all aspects of human life and strengthen the unity of Muslims.
“The political and materialistic powers have long been adamant to project Islam not as a comprehensive religion with a plan for all aspects of human life, but limited to individual action and heart belief,” the Leader said.
They have employed the views of certain writers and intellectuals to suggest that Islam is neither an intellectual source nor a practical guide in important matters such as civilization and management of society, economy and distribution of power and wealth, war and peace, domestic and foreign policy and establishment of justice and fighting oppression, he said.
Meanwhile, addressing the meeting between Leader and participants at the 35th International Islamic Unity Conference, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said the Islamic Republic remains committed to obligations it has undertaken under the nuclear deal with world powers, but the United States and the European sides have failed to do so as they cannot make a final decision on the matter.
The president said his administration’s foreign policy focuses on expanded interactions with the world, particularly the neighboring countries, stressing that he will not tie the country’s economy to negotiations over revival of the nuclear deal, which is officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Raisi was hinting at talks, several rounds of which have been already held at the Austrian capital city of Vienna, aimed at removing the United States’ anti-Iran sanctions, which it re-imposed after unilaterally ditching the nuclear agreement in 2018.
Iran fulfilled its nuclear undertakings under the 2015 nuclear deal, as certified repeatedly by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), even for a year after the U.S. nixed it, giving the other parties ample time to salvage the deal. However, due to the sanctions and the non-compliance of the other parties, not least the Europeans, Tehran began to go beyond some of the limits put on its nuclear work starting on May 8, 2018.
“We are committed to what we promised, but the United States and the Europeans are facing a crisis of decision-making,” Raisi stated.