Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has urged Muslim states with political connections to Israel to temporarily sever ties as a result of its attacks on Gaza.
"Some Islamic governments have condemned Israeli crimes in assemblies while some have not. This is unacceptable," he said Sunday, though it was unclear which nations he was referring to as nations across the Arab world all have stood by Gaza in the wake of the war declared by Hamas on October 7. Israel's relentless retaliation has seen several Muslim countries expel Israeli ambassadors, including Turkey and Jordan.
Iran, a financial and military supporter of Hamas, has lauded the attacks on October 7 which saw 1,200 mostly civilians killed in Israel and 240 more taken hostage, as a "success", while denying direct involvement.
His calls for severing ties come on the heels of Khamenei's recent call for an Islamic embargo on oil and food to Israel during a summit between the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League on November 11, where Muslim states did not reach a consensus on imposing extensive sanctions on Israel, as suggested by Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.
Khamenei delivered his latest remarks at an exhibition showcasing the "latest achievements" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Force, introducing the Fattah 2, an upgraded version of Iran's purported first hypersonic missile.
He criticized Israel for falling short of its goal to destroy Hamas despite extensive bombings in Gaza. Israel however, has destroyed large swathes of Hamas infrastructure across Gaza from command centers to parts of its extensive tunnel network, in addition to killing at least 5,000 terrorists, including numerous high level commanders, in its mission to eradicate Gaza of Hamas.
This weekend, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain became the first Arab leader to unequivocally condemn the Hamas attacks which saw women, children and the elderly savagely murdered in the single most deadly day for Jews since the Holocaust, calling the attack "horrific". The country, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, has stood firm in condemning Israel's retaliation but the rare branding of Hamas's attacks as "barbaric" rang loud across the Arab world which has as yet, largely avoided direct criticism of the proscribed terror group.