Khamenei adviser calls Trump Mideast plan ‘nightmare’

Iranian government officials and many Iranian social media users have condemned the “deal of the century” presented by President Donald Trump and his White House team for Israelis and Palestinians.

“Today the world of Islam is facing an important issue,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, the foreign policy adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at a press conference in Tehran Jan. 30. “The hypocritical and lying American president and the Zionist regime have a nightmare for the Islamic countries and have presented a plan which in reality is the sale and disintegration of Islamic countries, similar to the Crusades.”

Velayati continued, “The plan for the deal of the century will never reach fruition.” Just as Israel moving the capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing the Golan Heights did not bring “tangible change” for Israel, the deal of the century “will bring about unity of Palestinian resistance fighters and expand the wave of those seeking their rights.” Iran is a main sponsor of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Khamenei himself has said that the Islamic Republic’s policy is to support any group that fights Israel.

Velayati said Trump presented the plan at this moment to distract from his impeachment trial. He described the United States as “being on the decline.” 

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the deal was “delusional.” He instead promoted a previous proposal by Khamenei that calls for a referendum of residents of Gaza, Israel and the West Bank, regardless of religion. In a follow-up tweet, Zarif described the plan as a “dream project of a bankruptcy-ridden real estate developer,” in reference to Trump. The deal is a “nightmare for the region and the world,” he said. 

Zarif also tweeted a map of South Africa under apartheid alongside a map shared by the White House depicting how the West Bank would be divided. “Could Mandela ever have imagined re-emergence of BANTUSTANS, decades after liberation of South Africa?” he tweeted. “‘Vision for peace’ looks more like ‘Highway to Hell.'” Bantustans were territories designated for black residents of South Africa during apartheid.

Judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi also issued a statement about the plan. Raisi, who rarely issues statements on foreign policy since his defeat in the 2017 presidential election, called the plan “another page from the series of American tricks to impose oppression, aggression and occupation.” He continued, “History has shown that violating justice makes the sword of justice more sharp.” He added, “Not only will the deal of the century not bring security for the Zionists, it will institutionalize more instability than before in occupied Palestine.” 

Hard-line Mashregh news compiled a series of Persian-language tweets showing people’s harsh reactions to the deal. Many of the tweets shared pictures of the loss of Palestinian territory over the last century. Others shared the image presented by the White House depicting a carved-up and divided West Bank, referring to the territories as work camps.