Iran’s Supreme Leader Calls for Muslim Unity to Counter External Threats

DID Press: Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, has called for Muslim unity and opposition to division, describing solidarity among Muslims as a fundamental condition for the dignity and progress of the Islamic world.

In a message marking Unity Week, Khamenei said the United States and Israel are sworn enemies of Islamic unity and urged the leaders of Muslim countries to identify what he described as their “real enemy” and confront efforts aimed at creating divisions among Muslim nations.

Full Message

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm against the unbelievers and compassionate among themselves.”

I congratulate the honorable people of Iran and the great Muslim Ummah on the anniversary of the birth of the noble Prophet of Islam, the chosen Messenger of God, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, as well as the birth of his pure and righteous descendant, the divine proof, Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq, peace and blessings be upon him.

From the moment the sun of the existence of the Seal of the Prophets rose over Mecca, the prospect of human happiness—which depends on perfect servitude and obedience to God Almighty—shone more brightly. The souls of the prophets, divine angels and the righteous rejoiced, while the devils among humans and jinn were filled with anger, regret and sorrow.

The greatest creation of God across all the countless realms of creation was entering the earthly world and would soon, bearing the mantle of prophethood and finality and carrying the Great Qur’an, undertake the mission of guiding humanity comprehensively and setting the great caravan of humankind on the path toward servitude and perfection in God.

The life of the Prophet and his infallible successors is entirely a lesson in guidance and servitude; knowledge and love; faith and struggle; life and good individual and social conduct; trust and honesty; dignity and honor; knowledge and action; mercy and firmness; equity and justice; and unity and brotherhood.

The better these lessons are understood and put into practice, the easier it becomes for humanity to reach the peaks of happiness and prosperity.

We believe that the purified soul of the Prophet of Mercy, as well as the blessed souls of his successors and pure divine proofs, peace and blessings be upon him and them all, are always attentive to, guiding and compassionate toward the condition of Muslims and Islamic society. Whenever the children of this merciful and noble father make a mistake, their hearts are saddened; and whenever Muslims follow his teachings and instructions, their blessed hearts rejoice.

Today, Islam and its followers, after passing through difficult and turbulent periods and experiencing numerous ups and downs from the early days of Islam until now, have reached a decisive and historic stage.

Today, Muslims can play a highly influential and history-making role. Today, the prospect of the ultimate triumph of truth over falsehood, and Islam over disbelief, is closer to becoming a reality than at any previous period.

The first condition for achieving this is Muslim unity.

The unity of Muslims in confronting global disbelief is a Qur’anic strategy and an authentic teaching of pure Muhammadan Islam, peace and blessings be upon him and his family. It is not a superficial or temporary matter.

Unity means that, at the general level of Islamic societies, the points shared by all Muslims should serve as the foundation and central principle. At the same time, efforts should be made, through reasoning and while observing all aspects of brotherhood and solidarity—as taught by the Qur’an—to transform points of disagreement into common ground in an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

What is certain is that Muslims in Islamic societies must make the Qur’anic principle of being “firm against the unbelievers and compassionate among themselves” the basis of their thought, speech and conduct when confronting global disbelief. This is how Islamic unity and solidarity can be achieved.

Whenever either part of this divine message is removed from the practice of Muslims, they will also move away from the position of dignity they rightfully attained in the Islamic world. This is an inescapable principle.

This principle is one of the fundamental messages of the Islamic Revolution. The first Unity Week dates back to March 1978, during the struggle against the Pahlavi regime, when the late leader of the Islamic Revolution raised the idea while in exile in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, and both Shia and Sunni Muslims welcomed it.

Soon after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Unity Week was formally established at the initiative of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

By the grace of God, unity among the Muslim people has become a successful example in Iran, and the enemies’ conspiracies have not significantly undermined it.

However, ill-wishers are always waiting to undermine this great blessing. What gives them hope is the highlighting of differences.

Religious and doctrinal differences are certainly an important part of what Islam’s enemies seek to exploit, and they place considerable emphasis on them. But they will not stop there. They seek to turn all kinds of racial, cultural, social, economic, political and geographical differences into pretexts for creating divisions among Muslims in Iran and in other Islamic countries.

Their aim is to watch the Islamic Ummah become fragmented and its strength diminished, and then seize an opportunity to impose their domination.

The Holy Qur’an instructs Muslims in this regard: “Do not dispute with one another, lest you lose courage and your strength depart.”

Therefore, anyone, regardless of position, who takes an action that leads to division among Muslims and creates conflict within Muslim societies—knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally—is advancing the objectives of Islam’s enemies.

How can anyone today attribute such conduct to ignorance or negligence, when the tyrants of the world, led by what I describe as the criminal American government, have removed the deceptive masks from their colonial ambitions and hegemonic plans and exposed their bloodied claws to the world?

Now is the time for Muslims to reflect and examine developments more carefully.

If Muslims had stood as one hand, firmly united, would the Palestinian people have been left so defenseless and subjected to the oppression and crimes of the occupying forces?

And if the peoples and governments of the countries along the Persian Gulf had established their unity under the banner of Islam, would what I describe as corrupt and rootless actors have dared, from thousands of kilometers away, to covet their lands and resources?

My repeated and emphatic recommendation to the rulers of Islamic countries, particularly those in West Asia and the Persian Gulf region, is this: Know your real enemy, understand its plans and confront them.

The remedy for the problems of the Islamic Ummah is unity, friendship and cooperation in the pursuit of goodness and righteousness.

The rulers of the United States and the Zionist regime are sworn enemies of this unity and friendship. They are not merely enemies of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian people and the broader Islamic resistance front; they are enemies of the entire Muslim Ummah, including the peoples of West Asia and North Africa.

The rulers of these countries, many of whom are considered their partners, are not exempt from this hostility.

The open disrespect and insulting language used by the leaders of hegemonic powers toward some leaders of Islamic countries is also something that remains fresh in the memories of both you and us.

The important lesson of unity and avoiding conflict is the first lesson of Islam concerning how Muslims should deal with enemies and friends.

The second lesson is defending one another against disbelief, while the third is cooperation and mutual reinforcement in various aspects of the material and spiritual lives of Muslims, including wealth, security, science and progress.

The ultimate destination of this path will be the establishment of a new Islamic civilization.

Therefore, Muslim unity is the cornerstone for achieving a strong and victorious Islamic civilization.

This conceptual and intellectual framework, which embodies our aspirations for the Islamic world, has to a considerable extent been realized in our beloved Iran. I again urge every member of the Iranian nation to never allow any division to emerge among them.

In conclusion, I hope that, through the intercession of the noble Messenger of Islam and his pure household, peace and blessings be upon him and them, the merciful and blessed shadow of divine grace will extend over Islamic societies, and that Muslims will continue to ascend the steps of progress and dignity by increasingly following divine commands.

Peace, mercy and blessings of God be upon you.

Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei
8 Shahrivar 1405 / 30 August 2026
17 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1448