Senior Iranian Cleric Raps Trump's Decision to Recognize Al-Quds as Israel’s Capital

Rasa - Tehran's provisional Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ahmad Khatami blasted US President Donald Trumps' decision to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (al-Quds), warning about repercussions of such unwise decisions.

News ID: 435192

Date: 09 December 2017 - 15:37

RNA -  “This measure has angered the whole world and even the US allies have protested against it,” Ayatollah Khatami said, addressing a large and fervent congregation of the people on Tehran University campus on Friday.

“Some US officials have said that president of the US is suffering psychological problems, and have warned that if not cured at time he would cost the human race a big price,” Ayatollah Khatami said, denouncing Trump’s way of ruling and making decisions.

"In the course of the last 70 years that Palestine has been occupied, the arrogant world has been continually supportive of this unjust occupation,” he said about the Palestine and US stance against the local Arabs of the land whose country has been claimed by Israeli government.

“This recent act of Trump is a double occupation and the Islamic world should stand against it,” he called upon all Muslims of the world to protest against Trump’s decision.

“According to what Secretary-General of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Nasrollah, all countries should call home their ambassadors and close Israelis embassies across the globe,” he called for a unanimous measure against the move.

“Both US and the Israeli regime are aware that the mayhem will continue for a while and then it would abate, but it should not end; this protest should continue till the Israeli regime retreat back to its former stance,” Ayatollah Khatami asserted.

The cleric criticized Trump for drawing a red mark on all the negotiations of the past 70 years and concluded that the only solution to the Palestinian crisis is Intifada (uprising).

“Muslims should be zealous; if you won’t shout today when will you cry then?” he called upon all Muslims to protest. He criticized some Arab countries and said that where the Arabs are to support their fellow Arabs of Palestine.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani on Thursday warned Tel Aviv and Washington of the negative outcome of the decision by US President Donald Trump to Move his country's embassy to al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Shamkhani's remarks came after Trump announced his decision to move Washington's embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds city on Wednesday.

"Muslim countries unanimously condemn the plot as the violation of the oppressed Palestinians' right and pursuit of occupation by the Zionist regime," Shamkhani said.

He reiterated that the Holy al-Quds is an inseparable part of Palestine, and said, "Any decision on the future of Al Quds should be made by its original residents, and no other country can ignore its people's absolute rights to decide about the Muslim country."

In anticipation of Trump's move, 151 members of the UN General Assembly voted last week to adopt a rare resolution that denounced Israel as the “occupying power” of Jerusalem al-Quds, a city that is holy to Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike.

The city has seen heightened tensions since 2015, when the Israeli military introduced restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque — Islam’s third holiest site.

Over 300 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli soldiers ever since.

Trump announced late on Wednesday that he would relocate the US diplomatic mission in Israel, a decision that the US Congress made in 1995 but all of his successors have deferred ever since.

Israel lays claim to the entirety of al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital while Palestinians want its Eastern part as the capital of a future state for themselves.

Palestinian leaders have warned that the potential relocation would fuel strong reaction in the region and deliver a death blow to any prospect of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trump’s move which overturns decades of US foreign policy is feared to trigger a fresh wave of unrest in the Middle East.

In a Wednesday night statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the move a “blatant violation of international resolutions,” and warned against a new Palestinian Intifada (uprising).

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