US 'deal of century' a 'satanic plan': Ayatollah Khamenei

TEHRAN-  Chastising Muslim states which have yielded to American pressure on Israel, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei Monday said  the Palestinian cause will never be forgotten and al-Quds will remain the capital of Palestine.

"To America's dismay, the Palestinian cause will never be forgotten and al-Quds will remain the capital of Palestine," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

Speaking at a meeting of Iran's Hajj organization, Supreme Leader addressed President Donald Trump's ambitions to reach an historic accord between Israel and the Palestinian Aauthority, an agreement he dubbed the "deal of the century".

The 78-year-old Muslim cleric, who wields significant influence, called the deal a 'plot' by the US and Israel to remove Jerusalem from Palestine, and secure 'Zionist control' over the city, the Iranian Mehr media outlet reported

"The Americans have named their satanic policy on Palestine 'the deal of the century' but they should know that, by divine grace, this 'deal of the century' will never materialize," he said.

According to an Israeli intelligence website, Trump has proposed to establish a Palestinian state with limited sovereignty over around half of the West Bank and Abu Dis as its capital.

Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, his special adviser for international negotiations, are reportedly the main architects of the plan. 

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Palestinian people will stand against this "conspiracy," and Muslim nations will support them. 

"Of course, some Muslim governments, which have no belief in Islam, have become ready-to-die followers of the Americans out of foolishness, ignorance and temporal vanity," the Leader said. 

"But by divine grace, the Islamic Ummah and the Palestinian people will win over their enemies and see the day when the roots of the fake Zionist regime will be ripped out of the Palestinian land," he added.

Sources with access to Trump's plan have told Israeli intelligence website DEBKAfile that a Palestinian state would be established with limited sovereignty across about half of the West Bank  and all the Gaza Strip.

The besieged sliver of land, they said, would be integrated in the new state provided the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas agreed to give up its arms. 

Real Hajj

Ayatollah Khamenei said the most urgent need today is for the Islamic world to become united and support Palestinians with one voice. 

The Leader touched on the coming Hajj season, saying the event should become an occasion to consolidate unity among Muslims. 

"One of the main goals of Hajj is that Muslims congregate and interact, actually for the obvious issue of the formation of the Islamic Ummah," Ayatollah Khamenei said. 

A real Hajj, the Leader said, is the one that includes the "disavowal of the infidels" on the one hand and paving the ground for unity and empathy among Muslims on the other.

Ayatollah warned of efforts by "ignorant and spiteful individuals" who are trying to insinuate the separation of religion and politics in the minds of the youth.

"Hajj is the best opportunity and a practical scene to demonstrate the unification of religion and politics," the Supreme Leader said. 

He further said the Ka'aba to which Muslims turn five times a day to say their prayers as well as Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabi in Medina belong to all Muslims, and not to those who dominate the land where those most sacred Islamic sites are.

Ayatollah Khamenei touched on the Hajj disasters in 2015, calling them a "great injustice" in which thousands of pilgrims lost their lives and asking state officials to follow the cases.

At least 465 Iranian pilgrims lost their lives during a deadly crush, which occurred after two large masses of pilgrims converged at a crossroads in Mina near Mecca on September 24, 2015.

According to Iranian estimates, about 7,000 people were killed in the incident which came days after a massive construction crane collapsed into the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing more than 100 people, including a number of Iranians.

The head of Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization has said Saudi Arabia continued to withhold all cooperation toward clarifying various aspects of the stampede and compensating the victims of the incidents. 

"In these two catastrophes, the security and safety of the pilgrims was the most important duty of the Saudi government which was not fulfilled and the victims were not compensated," he added.