Iran Denies Rumored Attempt On Qatari Ambassador’s Life
Iran’s foreign ministry denied Friday claims circulated on social media that the Qatari ambassador had been the victim of an attempted assassination.
Iran’s foreign ministry denied Friday claims circulated on social media that the Qatari ambassador had been the victim of an attempted assassination.
On Thursday night, social media users were spreading the claim on Telegram channels that the Qatari envoy, initially named as Ali Ben Hamad Al Sulaiti, had been targeted on a Tehran street. The current ambassador is Mohammed bin Hamad Al Hajri, who replaced Al Sulaiti after he announced as Qatar's ambassador to Peru in 2018.
Iran’s foreign ministry cautioned media outlets to be careful over reporting such ‘news,’ while the Qatari embassy did not comment.
Tehran supported Doha after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain launched an economic boycott of Qatarin 2017. The quartet made 13 demands of Qatar including ending any ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and Saudi opposition, closing the al-Jazeera television station, and restricting relations with Iran.
During February’s visit by President Ebrahim Raisi to Doha for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, the two countries signed several deals. Iran and Qatar share the world’s biggest gas-field, with Iran’s portion known as South Pars and Qatar’s as North Dome.
Khamenei in televized remarks claimed that "everything is signalling a new equation in Palestine’s present and future," as the Israeli army "has been forced to turn its aggressive formation into a defensive one."
However, he did not explain the reasons for his perception of a change in the region. Khamenei also tried to portray the United States as "the most important supporter of Israel," finding itself in a weak state.
"The United States of America, has suffered consecutive defeats in the war in Afghanistan, in its maximum pressure policy against Iran, in trying to control the economy of the world, in the internal management of its own affairs and the deep rift that has developed in the US establishment." He also said that America has been defeated by "Asian powers," probably meaning China and North Korea.
Meanwhile, the 83-year-old cleric claimed that opinion "polls show almost 70% of Palestinians in the 1948 and 1967 borders and in the surrounding camps (Lebanon, Syria) encourage their leaders to carry out attacks on Israel." He did not mention the source of the poll in question.
Referring to recent sporadic unrest in Jerusalem, Khamenei also claimed that moves by "Palestinian youth, and the military manoeuvres in Gaza indicate that all of Palestine has turned into an arena of resistance."
Khamenei's uncompromising remarks came as nuclear talks with the US have come to a standstill because of the destablizing role of the Revolutionary Guard in the region.
He further claimed that "the Zionist regime is out of breath," and that "the formation of the resistance in West Asia has been the most blessed phenomenon in this region in recent decades."
The Islamic Republic calls its campaign against Israel the ‘resistance’, including militant forces it supports in the region.
While renewing his support for jihadists in Palestinian territories, Khamenei condemned regional countries for normalizing their ties with Israel. He said: "The Islamic Republic supports the resistance camp. It advocates and supports the Palestinian Resistance. We have always said this, we have always acted on this, and we have stood by it."
Khamenei added: "We condemn the treacherous move to normalize relations with Israel. We condemn the policy of a normalization of relations." He further charged that those Arab states which have normalized ties with Israel "have behaved treacherously and have brought disgrace to the Arab world."
Meanwhile several military commanders and politicians boasted about Iran's power and condemned regional countries for trying to normalize relations with Israel. IRGC Commander Hossein Salami in a televised message to Palestinians that was broadcast on Iran's Arabic speaking Al-Alam TV once again promised that "Israel will soon be wiped off the map."
In another development, IRGC Intelligence Chief Hosein Taeb said that the Islamic Republic has empowered its forces to launch intelligence offensives against Israel.
President Ebrahim Raisi in speech delivered in Tehran warned the regional Arab states who have normalized their ties with Israel that "Normalization of relations with Israel is tantamount to nurturing a snake up your sleeve."
The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said during a meeting with senior Hamas officials in Tehran that "resistance groups should make normalization of ties with Israel costly for Muslim countries."
Tasnim news website affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard said that the new "Kheybar Shekan" solid-fuel missile with a range of close to 1,500 kilometers was displayed for the second time this month.
The word Kheybar refers to an attack by early Muslims in 628 AD led by Prophet Muhammad on Jews living in Khaybar (Arabic pronunciation of Kheybar). The word Shekan means destoryer and Kheybar Shekan means "destroyer of Kheybar".
The ballistic missile Emad, with a range of 1,700 km was also paraded, as anti-Israeli banners installed by state organs covered major streets in Tehran and other cities.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami said on Friday that Israel was creating conditions for its own destruction with its "evil actions".
"Stop your vicious deeds. You know well that we are people of action and reaction. Our responses are painful. You create conditions for your own destruction. We will not leave you alone. Wait [for us]," Salami said during Quds Day in Tehran.
"You know better than us what will befall you if you take evil action."
The Revolutionary Guard Intelligence Organzation chief Hossein Taeb, a cleric, referring to "resistence forces" and Palestinians said that "Quds…God willing, will be freed soon" and Iran knows that Israel is in fear. Zionists, he said, have reached "the edge of the abys."
Messagaes in similar state-organized events are also directed at the supporters of the régime and feed the coverage in media controlled by the government.
Taeb also said that the "supporter of the occupyer of Quds, Ameirca is not in a good state. The arrogant and dominating power of America is declining," he said, and added that American leaders are lost amid numerous domestic and foreign challenges. They cannot free themselves from the humiliating situation they face in West Asia, and other foreign powers who might want to fill America’s shoes should learn the leasson, Taeb said.
The head of IRGC intelligence went on to say that "We will not také away our gaze from the enemy," and will watch their every move.
The commander of IRGC’s extraterritoral Quds Force, Esmail Ghaani also told the crowd at he Tehran Friday Prayer that the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini always supported the Palestinians and the Islamic Republic in its four-decade history tried to follow his teachings to "liberate Palestine."
He then praised the Lebanese Hezbollah, created in the early 1980s with planning and support by Iran’s nascent régime. Ghaani warned that "children of the Islamic Republic are present all over the world," and have organized "resistence fronts" everywhere.
Tehran calls all militant forces and groups that follow its policies and receive support the "resistence front."
