RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 5 sourcesIran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged Muslim countries, particularly those in the Gulf, to unite against what he called their “real enemy” and said divisions among Muslims served the interests of their adversaries. The message was published on Khamenei’s Telegram account for Islamic Unity Week, which marks the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. It called for Muslim unity, cooperation in various fields and mutual defence, saying anyone who creates divisions among Muslims, “knowingly or unknowingly,” helps Islam’s enemies. It asked whether Palestinians would have been left “so helpless” if Muslims had been united. Khamenei has not been seen in public since being injured in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes six months ago that launched the Iran war, killing his father and previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His call for unity echoes a statement he made on Friday to Iranians, when he said he had banned actions that harm social cohesion and urged authorities to avoid “discouraging statements” that weaken national and public morale. Khamenei specifically asked Gulf Arab rulers whether “rogues without identity” would have dared to covet their lands and possessions if the peoples and governments of the Gulf had been “united under the flag of Islam.” Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Gulf Arab monarchies have viewed Iran’s revolutionary ideology, including its anti-monarchic rhetoric and regional influence, as a threat to their political systems. During the present conflict, Tehran has struck U.S. military facilities as well as other infrastructure in Gulf states, underscoring the tensions between Tehran and its Gulf neighbours. “My emphatic and repeated recommendation to the rulers of Islamic countries, especially the countries of West Asia and the Gulf, is to identify your real enemy, understand his plan and confront it,” Khamenei said. War weighs on Iran’s economy Iranian leaders have acknowledged the economic toll of war with the U.S., with the supreme leader urging the government to address the hardship and the president saying foreign trade has shrunk by a third due to the American sanctions and blockade. Yet Tehran signalled no retreat on Saturday, vowing to withstand U.S. pressure, pursue diplomacy and maintain what it said was control over the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway giving Iran leverage through its ability to disrupt global energy markets. The government said in a statement on state media that addressing economic pressures caused by sanctions and war was a central focus, including curbing inflation, managing markets, creating jobs, directing investment towards domestic production and gradually reducing dependence on the dollar. Six months after the U.S. and Israel launched the war, negotiations are at an impasse and President Donald Trump’s administration has stepped up efforts to punish Iran financially with what it has billed as an “economic D-Day”. President Masoud Pezeshkian told state media that Iranian exports and imports had slumped nearly 35% because of U.S. sanctions and a naval blockade of Iranian ports. But he said Iran was able to sell about 90 million barrels of oil during the short-lived memorandum of understanding that the U.S. and Iran signed in June, when Washington permitted Iranian oil sales. Later on Saturday, Pezeshkian called on state TV for a revival of the interim deal, which was signed on June 17 but quickly unravelled amid disagreements over what had been agreed, especially on the status of the Strait of Hormuz. “We can solve our problems and gain our privileges with the memorandum of understanding,” he said of a document that had offered Iran, among other things, immediate relief from U.S. sanctions and the release of its frozen assets.
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