Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that countries seeking to normalize relations with Israel “are betting on a losing horse,” state media reported on Tuesday.

“The definite position of the Islamic Republic is that countries that make the gamble of normalization with Israel will lose. They are betting on a losing horse,” Khamenei said.

A U.S.-brokered deal for forging relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia could be in place by early next year, the Israeli foreign minister said last month, after the three countries signaled progress in the complex negotiations.

An Israeli-Saudi normalization would dramatically redraw the Middle East by formally bringing together two major U.S. partners in the face of Iran—a foreign-policy flourish for President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection in late 2024.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom;  editing by Alex Richardson)

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