Iran’s Khamenei on Eid al-Fitr: 'Deal of the Century' will never happen
This is typical language of the Iranian regime and its allies, especially Hezbollah.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANIran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei(photo credit: AFP PHOTO / HO / KHAMENEI.IR)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei slammed the US “deal of the century” as doomed to failure, asserting that it would “never materialize” in his Eid al-FItr speech marking the end of the month-long Ramadan holiday.He also bashed Bahrain for hosting events relating to the US push for the Trump administration’s peace plan. He called the small Gulf state and its larger Saudi neighbor “treacherous Muslim states” who were working with the US “evil plot.”This is typical language of the Iranian regime and its allies, especially Hezbollah. The speech dominated Iranian media, headlining Fars News and Tasnim in Farsi. Press TV put it on its home page in English. The Ayatollah feels that distracting Iranians from other issues to condemn the US is the best policy, considering the tension with the US over the last month. However, the Iranian regime has seemingly bought into the the concept of a “deal,” by spending so much time condemning it. If it felt that the deal had no chance of success, it wouldn’t invest so much time in dealing with it.The speech began with references to the Quds Day marches and the importance that the Iranian nation puts on global issues. Khamenei said that the future generation was becoming more pious. “The spiritual reserves of the nation originate with the pure hearts of our youth and teens,” he said. He also urged Iranians to help victims of recent massive floods.Then, after the pleasantries, he turned to the issue of “Palestine and the treacherous plot of the United States and its ‘Deal of the Century.’” He spoke about the betrayal of Islamic countries, and referenced Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. “The Bahraini leaders have hosted and convened this summit with their weakness and anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic morale,” he said.Obviously, Iran is concerned about the upcoming Bahrain meeting and knows it may illustrate that the Trump administration is making inroads. It wants to sabotage this at all costs - and rhetoric is one of its tools.