Ali Khamenei

Iran’s Khamenei: Fight to ‘Liberate Palestine’ Is ‘Islamic Duty’

Iran’s supreme leader said it was an “Islamic duty” to fight for the “liberation of Palestine” in a landmark speech Friday amid rising tensions with regional arch-enemy Israel. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out at Western governments and their Arab “puppets” for supporting the Jewish state, in his first ever address marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day. The 80-year-old leader also appeared to confirm for the first time that Iran has helped to provide Palestinians with arms. The remarks came at the end of a week that saw Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launch a Twitter tirade against Khamenei and reports that the two sides carried out cyber attacks on each other. “The aim of this struggle is the liberation of the entire Palestinian land” and “the return of all Palestinians to their country,” Khamenei said in the speech broadcast live on state television. “The policy of normalizing the presence of the Zionist regime in the region is one of the major policies of the United States of America,” he said. “Some Arab governments in the region, which play the role of U.S. puppets, have provided the necessary preconditions for this, such as economic ties and the like; these efforts are completely fruitless and sterile. …

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Gulf tensions escalate as US accuses Iran of attacking tankers

The United States accused Iran of carrying out attacks that left two tankers ablaze in the Gulf of Oman

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US and Iran sound the retreat after beating drums of war

US and Iranian leadership displayed rare agreement in comments as officials sought to publicly downplay the possibility of military conflict

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