TEHRAN: A handout picture provided by the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shows him (right) during a meeting with participants in the Islamic Unity Conference in the capital Tehran yesterday. – AFP

TEHRAN: Arab nations that normalized ties with Zionists last year have "sinned" and should reverse such moves, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei said yesterday. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco all said in 2020 they would normalize ties with Zionist entity, as Washington under the administration of then US president Donald Trump made Arab-Zionists rapprochement a foreign policy priority.

"Some governments have unfortunately made errors-have made big errors and have sinned in normalizing (their relations) with the usurping and oppressive Zionist regime," Khamenei said, referring to Zionist entity. "It is an act against Islamic unity, they must return from this path and make up for this big mistake," Khamenei added, in a speech marking a public holiday honoring the birth of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).

Iran has in the four decades since the 1979 Islamic revolution positioned itself as a strong defender of the Palestinian cause. Egypt and Jordan were until last year the only two Arab countries to normalize relations with Zionist entity. "If the unity of Muslims is achieved, the Palestinian question would definitely be resolved in the best fashion," Khamenei said. In May, Khamenei characterized Zionist entity as a "terrorist base" and "not a country". - AFP