Khamenei Calls on Gulf Rulers to Unite Against External Threats

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a written statement marking the birthday of Prophet Muhammad, urging the rulers of Gulf Arab states to set aside external pressures and unite against outside threats, according to a report by the Jerusalem Post, an Israeli outlet. The statement, as cited by Israeli media, framed Muslim unity as a Quranic principle rather than a political convenience, though the Israeli report did not publish the statement's full text or specify which threat prompted it.

The appeal falls on Mawlid al-Nabi, the annual commemoration of the Prophet's birth observed across the Islamic world, and comes as Khamenei, Iran's highest religious and political authority since 1989, has periodically used similar occasions to call for pan-Islamic solidarity, particularly directed at Gulf Cooperation Council states with which Tehran has had a fraught relationship for decades.

The timing follows years of shifting Gulf-Iran dynamics. Saudi Arabia and Iran restored diplomatic ties in March 2023 in a deal brokered by China, ending a seven-year rupture. Qatar, which shares the South Pars/North Dome gas field with Iran, has long positioned itself as a mediator between Tehran and Western capitals, including during nuclear negotiations, and has consistently favored dialogue over confrontation with Iran, a stance distinct from some other Gulf capitals.

Neither Khamenei's office nor Iranian state media had independently corroborated the wording of the appeal at the time of the Israeli report, and Gulf governments had not issued public responses. As with other Israeli-sourced accounts of Iranian statements, the claims here rest on the Jerusalem Post's characterization and should be read as reported rather than independently verified.