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Unity Week Message
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged Muslim countries, particularly those in the Gulf, to unite against what he called their "real enemy" during Islamic Unity Week.
“identify your real enemy, understand his plan and confront it”
In a message published on Khamenei’s Telegram account, Reuters said the call for Muslim unity, cooperation in various fields and mutual defence warned that anyone who creates divisions among Muslims, "knowingly or unknowingly," helps Islam’s enemies.
The Reuters report also said Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was injured in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes that launched the Iran war in February and killed his father, then supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Business Times, citing the same Reuters text, said the message asked whether Palestinians would have been left "so helpless" if Muslims had been united.
In the same Reuters account, Khamenei specifically recommended that Gulf Arab rulers identify their "real enemy" and confront its plan, framing the guidance as a response to divisions among Muslims serving adversaries.
Accusations and Framing
Iran’s state-run broadcaster IRIB, as cited by Anadolu Ajansı, carried Khamenei’s message that rulers of Muslim countries should recognize what he called "the true enemy," accusing the US and Israel of being "sworn enemies" of Islamic unity.
Anadolu Ajansı quoted Khamenei saying, "My emphatic and repeated recommendation to the rulers of Islamic countries, particularly those in West Asia and along the Gulf, is to identify your true enemy, understand its plan and confront it," in the context of Islamic Unity Week.
Mehr News Agency similarly reported that Khamenei said the programme of "ill-wishers and enemies of Islam" is to magnify differences to weaken the Islamic nation and dominate it.
Mehr News Agency also quoted Khamenei warning that every individual who carries out an act that led to division between Muslims, "whether knowingly or unknowingly," has fulfilled the purpose of the enemies of Islam.
In the Reuters account, Khamenei’s call echoed a statement he made on Friday to Iranians when he said he had banned actions that harm social cohesion and urged authorities to avoid "discouraging statements" that weaken national and public morale.
Regional Stakes and Tensions
Reuters linked Khamenei’s message to the broader regional context, saying tensions in the Middle East have heightened since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in late February and prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes on regional countries hosting US assets.
“Iran and the US signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding in June”
Anadolu Ajansı reported that Iran and the US signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding in June aimed at ending the war, but the interim deal quickly faltered.
In the Reuters account, Khamenei asked Gulf Arab rulers whether "rogues without identity" would have dared to covet their lands and possessions if the peoples and governments of the Gulf had been "united under the flag of Islam."
The Independent described the same Telegram-published statement as warning that divisions among Muslims serve the interests of their adversaries, and it said the message also questioned whether Palestinians would have been left "so helpless" if Muslims had been united.
Together, the Reuters and The Independent accounts presented Khamenei’s Unity Week guidance as a call for mutual defence and joint cooperation across various fields, framed around confronting the "real enemy" and preventing divisions among Muslims.