Khamenei to America's Allies in the Region: You Have No Fate Other Than Destruction

The leader of the Islamic Republic regarded the potential recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital by the United States as a sign of "helplessness" and stated that, in his belief, the ultimate fate of the countries that "follow" the U.S. in the region is "destruction." According to ISNA news agency on Wednesday (December 6), Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made these remarks during a meeting with officials of the country and guests of the Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran. In this speech, Khamenei said: "Our language towards the followers of America in the region is one of advice, and we do not intend to respond to the words of some ignorant people, but we advise them that serving global oppressors is against their own interests, and as the Quran states, accompanying oppressors has no end other than destruction." Although the leader of the Islamic Republic did not mention a specific country, it seems he was referring to Saudi Arabia and its allied countries in the region that have good relations with Washington. Diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Tehran have been severed following the Mina incident in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Iranian pilgrims, and the subsequent attack by Hezbollah forces on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. Saudi and Iranian officials, who are engaged in proxy wars in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, openly criticize each other's policies in the strongest terms. In his recent remarks, the leader of the Islamic Republic referred to the U.S., Israel, and their followers in the region as the "Pharaoh of today" and stated that they "want to start a war in the region, which is an American plan." Ayatollah Khamenei added that "unfortunately today there are rulers and elites in this region who dance to America's tune; they do whatever America wants against Islam." He stated that "we have no differences with Muslim nations... and we are advocates of unity," adding: "But against this movement interested in unity, there are those who seek war, and their policy is war." Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also threatened the Saudi government on December 2, advising them: "We recommend that the Saudis stop cooperating with the oppressors and join the nations of the region; otherwise, the shrapnel of the resistance front will hit them." Iranian officials refer to the United States and its allies as "oppressors" and call the Islamic Republic of Iran and several of its allied countries the "resistance front." Following the escalation of verbal tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, recently referred to the leader of the Islamic Republic as a "new Hitler" emerging in the Middle East. The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia stated regarding Ali Khamenei: "The lesson we learned from Europe is that appeasement does not work. We do not want a new Hitler in Iran to repeat what happened in Europe in the Middle East." In response to the news of the potential relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing this city as Israel's capital, Khamenei said: "The fact that they claim they want to declare Jerusalem the capital of occupied Palestine is a sign of their helplessness." He considered the U.S. "hand" in the "Palestinian issue" to be "tied" and added that they "cannot advance their goals." Before Khamenei, Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey, warned Donald Trump, the President of the United States, about the consequences of moving the embassy to Jerusalem.