Iran and its allies have vowed to oppose a US plan to carve up Israel and the Palestinian territories. But the proposals, which were put together by Donald Trump’s son-in-law and lobbyists in Washington, were welcomed by White House allies in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Twitter account of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, cited comments he made more than 18 months ago, when Ivanka Trump’s husband, real estate developer scion Jared Kushner, first began touting a Middle East peace initiative.

“Let the American leadership go blind, but by the will of God America’s satanic and evil policy for Palestine named the deal of the century will never succeed,” he was quoted as saying. “The Palestine issue will never be forgotten and definitely the Palestinian nation and all Muslim nations will stand against them and not stand for this.”

Iran – which along with Palestinians and many other Arab actors, was left out of the consultations on the Trump administration’s plan – has a history of using its proxies to sabotage attempts to implement American schemes in the region, including in Lebanon in the 1980s, Israel and the Palestinian territories in the 1990s, Iraq in the 2000s, and Syria and Yemen in the 2010s.

The so-called deal of the century was praised by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who attended the Tuesday unveiling of the plan, saying it was a “great deal for Israel and a great deal for peace”.

Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Show all 18 1 /18 Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan TOPSHOT - Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans and wave Palestinian flags as they stand by flaming tyres during a protest against US President Donald Trump's expected peace plan proposal in Gaza City on January 28, 2020. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images) MAHMUD HAMS AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protesters burn pictures of US President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a demonstration in the West Bank against the expected peace plan proposal AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan US President and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announce Trump's Middle East peace plan in the White House AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinians protest as smoke rises from burning tires ahead of the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump of his long-delayed Mideast peace plan, in Gaza City January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY MOHAMMED SALEM Reuters Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans as they stand by flaming tyres during a protest against US President Donald Trump's expected peace plan proposal in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip . - Palestinians staged protests against US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, hours before it was to be unveiled in Washington. Thousands demonstrated in Gaza, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag, while further rallies were planned for the coming days. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images) SAID KHATIB AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protesters wave the national flag during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 28, 2020, against US President Donald Trump's expected peace plan proposal. - Palestinians staged protests against US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, hours before it was to be unveiled in Washington. Thousands demonstrated in Gaza, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag, while further rallies were planned for the coming days. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images) AHMAD GHARABLI AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up while listening to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address a joint news conference to discuss a new Middle East peace plan proposal in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid BRENDAN MCDERMID Reuters Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan epa08172847 Palestinians chant slogans during a protest against the so-called 'Deal of the Century', planned by Trump to solve the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, in the streets of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 28 January 2020. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER MOHAMMED SABER EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan epa08172814 A Palestinian holds a banner reading in Arabic 'down with the deal of century' as people protest against the deal planned by Trump to solve the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, in the streets of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 28 January 2020. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER MOHAMMED SABER EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protesters burn pictures of US President Donald Trump during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 28, 2020, against the expected peace plan proposal. - Palestinians staged protests against US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, hours before it was to be unveiled in Washington. Thousands demonstrated in Gaza, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag, while further rallies were planned for the coming days. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images) AHMAD GHARABLI AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protesters wave the national flag during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 28, 2020, against US President Donald Trump's expected peace plan proposal. - Palestinians staged protests against US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, hours before it was to be unveiled in Washington. Thousands demonstrated in Gaza, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag, while further rallies were planned for the coming days. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images) AHMAD GHARABLI AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan epa08172866 Palestinians set fire during a protest against the so-called 'Deal of the Century', planned by Trump to solve the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, in the streets of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 28 January 2020. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER MOHAMMED SABER EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan epa08172871 Palestinians chant slogans during a protest against the so-called 'Deal of the Century', planned by Trump to solve the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, in the streets of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 28 January 2020. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER MOHAMMED SABER EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan epa08172842 Palestinians protesters burn a poster depicting US President Donald Trump during a protest against the so-called 'Deal of the Century', planned by Trump to solve the conflict between Palestinians and Israel, in the streets of Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 28 January 2020. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER MOHAMMED SABER EPA Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans as they stand by flaming tyres during a protest against US President Donald Trump's expected peace plan proposal in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip . - Palestinians staged protests against US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, hours before it was to be unveiled in Washington. Thousands demonstrated in Gaza, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag, while further rallies were planned for the coming days. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images) SAID KHATIB AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protesters wave the national flag and a portrait of president Mahmud Abbas during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 28, 2020, against US President Donald Trump's expected peace plan proposal. - Palestinians staged protests against US President Donald Trump's Middle East peace plan, hours before it was to be unveiled in Washington. Thousands demonstrated in Gaza, burning pictures of Trump and the American flag, while further rallies were planned for the coming days. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images) AHMAD GHARABLI AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinians chant slogans as they demonstrate outside the local government headquarters in Tulkarmm, west of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on January 28, 2020 against US President Donald Trump's expected peace plan proposal. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images) JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP via Getty Palestinian protests against President Trump's Middle East peace plan Palestinian protesters chant angry slogans during a protest against the U.S. Mideast peace plan, in Gaza City, Monday, Jan. 28, 2020. U.S. President Donald Trump is set to unveil his administration's much-anticipated Mideast peace plan in the latest U.S. venture to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Khalil Hamra AP

During a press briefing on Wednesday, David Friedman, US Ambassador to Israel, insisted “it’s a little too early to gauge Palestinian reaction”.

But the negative response was swift and broad, equally rejected by numerous Palestinian factions in a rare show of unity.

Mahmoud ​Abbas – the Palestinian president – and the head of rival Hamas, the militant group which runs Gaza, vehemently rejected the deal as “nonsense” and held a rare joint meeting to discuss their response.

“I say to Trump and Netanyahu: Jerusalem is not for sale, all our rights are not for sale and are not for bargaining,” Mr Abbas said on Tuesday. “And your deal, the conspiracy, will not pass.”

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official added, “Trump’s statement is aggressive and it will spark a lot of anger.”

The deal gives Israel complete control over the contested city of Jerusalem, instead offering the Palestinians a capital in the eastern outskirts of the city, which are behind Israel’s controversial security wall.

It also allows Israel to annex the strategic Jordan Valley area along the border with Jordan as well as nearly all its settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are deemed illegal under international law.

According to Mr Trump’s maps, the Palestinian state meanwhile is comprised of parts of the West Bank connected by corridors as well as the blockaded Gaza enclave and territory south of the strip which would be handed over in a land swap.

The plan denies the right of return of Palestinian refugees into lands they fled or were forced from decades ago that are now inside Israel.

It says that Israel will maintain security responsibility for the future state of Palestine that had to be demilitarised.

Mr Friedman insisted to reporters that “the reaction from the region has been extraordinarily constructive”.

But immediate opposition to the deal cut across the sectarian and political divides that have rattled the Middle East for years.

The Arab states endorsing the plan are unlikely to think it has a chance of success HA Hellyer, analyst

Both sides in Yemen’s years-long civil war, the Iranian-backed Houthis and the internationally recognised government backed by Saudi Arabia, denounced the plan.

The deal was predictably criticised by Iran’s allies such as the Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah, but also by Iraq’s top Shia religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, considered a foe of Tehran, who demanded that Jerusalem “be returned to the sovereignty of its Palestinian owners no matter how long it takes”, and neighbouring Jordan, a staunch Sunni-dominated US ally which is host to millions of Palestinian refugees and signed a peace deal with Israel in 1994.

The foreign ministry of Qatar, which hosts a major US military base, said the agreement must include the right of return and the right to a sovereign state on the 1967 borders, otherwise “peace cannot be sustainable’.

Nato member Turkey, which has been accused by Israel of supporting Hamas, warned the deal would only stir conflict in the troubled region.

“This plan is an annexation plan that is aimed at killing the two-state solution and stealing Palestinian lands,” the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Few of the players in the Middle East detailed how they would oppose the Trump scheme, which Israel hopes to speed forward by annexing parts of the West Bank as early next week.

But Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said that he hoped the announcement would serve as “a wake-up call for all the Muslims who have been barking up the wrong tree”, suggesting Tehran may use the unpopular scheme to whip anti-American sentiment in the region.

Iran has demanded US troops leave the Middle East for years, intensifying those calls following the assassination of Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike.

Some Western officials and Arab states urged the Palestinian leadership not to reject the agreement outright and instead consider the proposals

Dominic Raab, the British foreign secretary, called it a “serious proposal, reflecting extensive time and effort” and urged all sides to give it “genuine and fair consideration”.

This was echoed by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, which said that the plan offered an “important starting point” for the return to negotiations.

All three countries have close ties to the Trump family, and have invested politically and financially in getting the White House to overlook human rights concerns, including the kidnapping, torture, murder, dismemberment and disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi operatives from the court of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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Egypt called for “open channels of dialogue” to enable further discussions on the plan.

“Egypt calls on the two relevant parties to undertake a careful and thorough consideration of the US vision to achieve peace and open channels of dialogue, under US auspices, for the resumption of negotiations,” said a statement from the foreign ministry.

Analysts described the endorsements by the Arab nations as a way to continue to game a Trump administration that has repeatedly demonstrated it is capable of being manipulated by foreign powers.

“The Arab states endorsing the plan are unlikely to think it has a chance of success,” HA Hellyer, a scholar at the Royal United Services Institute and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told The Independent.

“It’s more probable this is about positioning vis-a-vis future engagements with the United States.”