Supreme leader’s call for Muslim unity comes six months after he was injured in U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed his father

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has called on Muslim countries, particularly Gulf Arab states, to unite against what he described as their “real enemy”, arguing that divisions among Muslims only serve the interests of their adversaries.

The message, published on Khamenei’s Telegram channel to mark Islamic Unity Week – which commemorates the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad – urged cooperation across various fields and mutual defence. It warned that anyone who creates divisions among Muslims, “knowingly or unknowingly,” ultimately helps Islam’s enemies, and questioned whether Palestinians would have been left “so helpless” had Muslims been united.

Addressing Gulf Arab rulers directly, Khamenei asked 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.”

“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.

The appeal echoes a statement he made on Friday to Iranians, in which he said he had banned actions that harm social cohesion and urged authorities to avoid “discouraging statements” that weaken national and public morale.

Khamenei has not been seen in public since being injured in U.S.-Israeli airstrikes six months ago that launched the current Iran war and killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the previous supreme leader.

The call for unity comes against a backdrop of deep mistrust. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Gulf Arab monarchies have viewed Iran’s revolutionary ideology – including its anti-monarchic rhetoric and regional influence – as a direct 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 ongoing tensions between Iran and its Gulf neighbours.