Khamenei: The October 7 attack thwarted the big plans for the Middle East – I24NEWS

The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave a speech Monday morning marking the anniversary of the death of the leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ruhollah Khomeini. 

In his statements, he hinted that one of the aims of the October 7 attack was to sabotage the progress toward normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia: “There is no need to trust in talks and negotiations whose aim is to achieve normalization. With normalization – the Palestinians will not achieve their rights.”

Khamenei also said that “the Palestinian people must struggle against the Zionist entity and force it to retreat by weakening it and continuing attacks against it. Nations need to enter the battlefield to protect the Palestinians — and then the Zionist entity will cease to exist, which is essentially what is happening today,” he said.

He added that the October 7 massacre, which he referred to as the “Flood of Al-Aqsa” operation was an urgent need for the people of the region. 

“This action was a hard blow to the Zionist entity, which has not recovered from it. The ‘Flood of Al-Aqsa’ thwarted all of the enemy’s plans, and the situation in recent months has dispelled all hopes of reviving this plan [of normalization]. The attack came at the right time. I cannot say whether the planner of operation knew what the ramifications would be. The action thwarted the grand plan for the Middle East region.”

In response, Reuters news agency reported a statement from the Palestinian Authority president’s office pushing back against the bellicose speech. “These comments are meant to shed Palestinian blood. The Palestinian people do not need wars that do not serve their aspirations for freedom and independence.”