TEL AVIV – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday called President Donald Trump’s unveiled peace plan “satanic” and said the Muslim world would work to prevent its realization.
“The issue of Palestine will never be forgotten,” Khamenei continued. “The Palestinian nation and all Muslim nations will definitely stand up to them and not allow the so-called Deal Of The Century to be realized.”
Trump’s plan would see the establishment of a contiguous but demilitarized Palestinian state on most of the West Bank with parts of eastern Jerusalem that are outside the Israeli security fence as its capital.
Jerusalem would remain undivided and under Israeli control.
The flashpoint holy site of the Temple Mount would remain under the current status quo overseen by Jordan’s Islamic Waqf but all prayer – including Jewish prayer – would be allowed. The Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site but currently Jews are barred from praying there.
The Palestinians have denounced the plan.
“This conspiracy deal will not pass. Our people will take it to the dustbin of history,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Arab states including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, and the UAE welcomed the proposal, hailing it as a “just” solution for the Palestinian people.
Saudi Arabia thanked the Trump administration for arriving at a “just and comprehensive resolution” for the Palestinians.
“The establishment of a just and comprehensive peace must be worked towards. Peace is a strategic choice, and one that will bring about a permanent solution that will realize the rights of the Palestinian people,” he told Abbas.
Egypt said it similarly expressed its appreciation for the U.S plan, and called on the Palestinians to seriously consider the initiative in order to restore “their full legitimate rights through the establishment of a sovereign independent state.”