Skip to main content

Iranian Supreme Leader Blasts Saudi Crown Prince on Israeli Right to Its Land

Share This article

JERUSALEM, Israel – The anti-Israel rhetoric coming from Iran continues. The latest blast came from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei in response to the Saudi crown prince's statement that Israelis have a right to a land of their own.

In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first Arab leader to make such a statement. In the same breath he said Palestinians have a right to their land, which they define as "from the river to the sea," virtually eliminating the State of Israel by replacing it.

Khamenei voiced his opposition to Prince Mohammed's statement, calling on Muslims throughout the Middle East to eliminate the Jewish state "with an intense and planned struggle," Reuters quoted the aging – and terminally ill – leader as saying. Since 2009, reports have surfaced of his increasing frailty from prostate cancer.

Khamenei, meanwhile, said negotiating with Israel, which he called a "cheating, lying and oppressive regime," is an "unforgiveable mistake."

He later took to Twitter to comment on the "March of Return," voicing his opposition to the "escalation of oppression & barbarism by the Zionists," which he said "saddened and angered those who care for Palestine." Khamenei said the right of return is "at the top of Islam's international agenda in the face of the arrogant front [Israel]."

The right of return offers an estimated 5 million Arabs – descendants of less than 600,000 who left Israel in 1948 – to return to Israel to reclaim their former homes.

UNWRA placed the vast majority of Arabs who left Israel in "refugee camps," disallowing them to absorb into their host country.

The March of Return purports to revive the so-called right of return. The idea is to flood a truncated Jewish state (within the pre-1967 armistice lines) with thousands of foreign Arabs, effectively replacing Israel with "Palestine" – a dream rival Palestinian factions – Hamas and Fatah – share. The Palestinian Authority's logo on its official stationary replaces Israel with a Palestinian state. Former Israeli UN Ambassador Abba Eban described those borders as indefensible, dubbing them "Auschwitz borders."

In a statement posted to his official website, Khamenei said, "Movement toward negotiation with the cheating, lying and oppressive regime is a big, unforgivable mistake that will push back the victory of the people of Palestine."

Mossad Chief 100% Certain of Iran's Nuclear Military Vision

In related news, Yossi Cohen, head of Israeli intelligence agency the Mossad, said Iran "has never abandoned its military nuclear vision," the Associated Press reported.

In a recent closed-door meeting, Cohen reportedly told senior Israeli officials the Iranian nuclear deal was a "terrible mistake."

"Iran will be able to enrich enough uranium for an arsenal of nuclear bombs," he said, according to a participant who asked to remain anonymous.

Cohen also said lifting economic sanctions against Iran increased its aggression and allowed it to continue developing its long-range ballistic missile program.

"As head of the Mossad, I am 100 percent certain that Iran has never abandoned its military nuclear vision for a single instant," Cohen said. "This deal enables Iran to achieve that vision. That is why I believe the deal must be completely changed or scrapped. Failure to do so would be a grave threat to Israel's security."

US President Donald Trump said the United States will consider withdrawing from the deal if substantive changes aren't addressed by mid-May.

 

Share This article

About The Author

Tzippe
Barrow

From her perch high atop the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, Tzippe Barrow tries to provide a bird’s eye view of events unfolding in her country. Tzippe’s parents were born to Russian Jewish immigrants, who fled the czar’s pogroms to make a new life in America. As a teenager, Tzippe wanted to spend a summer in Israel, but her parents, sensing the very real possibility that she might want to live there, sent her and her sister to Switzerland instead. Twenty years later, the Lord opened the door to visit the ancient homeland of her people.