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Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Calls for Islamic Unity Against US and Israel

evening · · thread: US and Iran Pause Military Strikes Amid Continued Drone Attacks on Saudi Oil Sites

11 sources across 9 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • CNN Brasil Brazil · Centre · Rubens Menin (MRV)
  • Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
  • Haaretz Israel · Left · Schocken family and M. DuMont Schauberg
  • The Times of Israel Israel · Centre · Seth Klarman (majority backer)
  • La Tercera Chile · Centre-right · Copesa (Saieh family)
  • Frankfurter Allgemeine Germany · Centre-right · FAZIT-Stiftung (foundation)
  • Tempo English Indonesia · Centre-left · PT Tempo Inti Media
  • Dawn Pakistan · Centre-left · Pakistan Herald Publications (Haroon family)
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • Al-Monitor United States · Centre · Jamal Daniel

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.

The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a written message on Sunday urging Muslim countries, particularly those in the Gulf and West Asia, to unite against what he termed their true enemy. Published on Telegram for Islamic Unity Week, which marks the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad, the message called for cooperation and mutual defense. Khamenei stated that the United States and Israel are the sworn enemies of Islamic unity and suggested that the Palestinian people would not be as helpless if the Muslim world were united. He further questioned whether Gulf rulers would have faced threats to their lands if they were united under the flag of Islam.

This message marks a rare communication from Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since February 28. He was injured in joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes that launched the current war and killed his father, the previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reports from Reuters and other sources indicate that Mojtaba suffered significant injuries to his leg and face, leading to speculation about his health and ability to govern. U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Wednesday that he believes Mojtaba is alive but remains gravely injured.

The call for unity comes amid severe regional instability. Iran has previously attacked U.S. facilities and infrastructure in Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Al Jazeera reports that the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted, with some sources stating that up to 400 ships are unable to leave the Gulf safely. While a memorandum of understanding was signed in June to end the military conflict, that deal has since lapsed. Iran currently faces significant economic pressure, including a naval blockade and inflation reaching 66 percent.

Outlets with a center-left lean emphasize the broader geopolitical context of the failed ceasefire and the ongoing struggle for a dominant Islamic civilization. Center-right sources focus more on the specific threats to Gulf monarchies and the internal security concerns of Israel, such as threats against the family of Benjamin Netanyahu. Center outlets primarily highlight the tension between Khamenei's call for unity and the reality of Iran's military strikes on its neighbors.

How each side framed it

Left
Presented the call for unity as a strategic move to prevent Muslim divisions from serving adversary interests.
Centre-left
Framed the event within the context of a struggle for Islamic civilization and the failure of diplomatic ceasefires.
Centre
Focused on the contradiction between the call for unity and Iran's military actions against Gulf neighbors.
Centre-right
Highlighted the threats to Gulf monarchies and linked the event to specific security threats against Israeli leadership.

Sources

90% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.