Islamic countries should be aware of Israel’s "evil intentions" Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi told ambassadors of Islamic countries at a reception on Thursday.

Those Muslim countries that "normalize relations with the blood-shedding Zionist regime resemble those who would keep a snake in their sleeves," Raisi said, as envoys were invited to mark the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan, ending on Friday in Iran.

Every year during Ramadan Iran marks the Quds or Jerusalem Day to highlight its support for Palestinians and its enmity with Israel.

Raisi who highlighted Muslim unity in his speech, without naming any country, was implicitly criticizing the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and other Arab countries that have signed normalization agreements with Israel. He claimed that establishing ties with Israel will anger two billion Muslims in the world.

Since August 2020, when the UAE and Bahrain signed the Abraham accords with Israel, with the mediation of the United States, mainly Iran has criticized their action. Other Arab countries such as Egypt and Morocco also have normal ties with Israel.

Raisi also compared Israel with fundamentalist Sunni Muslim extremists that he called Takfiris and said that if Muslim youth had not resisted, Israel "like Takfiris would have swallowed regional countries."

Iran financially and militarily supports an array of Palestinian and other groups who conduct attacks against Israel.