Real Enemy

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged Muslim countries, particularly Gulf states, to unite against what he called their "real enemy" in a written message published Saturday for Islamic Unity Week.[1]

The message, posted on Khamenei's Telegram account, called for Muslim unity, cooperation in various fields, and mutual defence. It said anyone who creates divisions among Muslims, "knowingly or unknowingly," helps Islam's enemies. Khamenei asked whether Palestinians would have been left "so helpless" if Muslims had been united.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since being injured in US-Israeli airstrikes six months ago that killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and launched the Iran war. His call for unity echoes a statement he made Friday to Iranians, when he said he had banned actions that harm social cohesion.

He specifically 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." Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Gulf monarchies have viewed Iran's revolutionary ideology as a threat to their political systems.[2]

Economic toll

Iranian leaders have acknowledged the economic toll of the war with the United States. President Masoud Pezeshkian said foreign trade has shrunk by a third due to American sanctions and blockade. Tehran signalled no retreat on Saturday, vowing to withstand US pressure while maintaining control over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway that gives Iran leverage over global energy markets.

The government said addressing economic pressures from sanctions and war was a central focus, including curbing inflation, managing markets, creating jobs, and gradually reducing dependence on the dollar.

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