Iran on January 29 described the so-called “Deal of the century” proposed by the US as a Middle East peace plan to settle the Israel-Palestine conflict as the “Treason of the century”.

But the Palestinians received little backing from Arab nations who, analysts said, seemed keener on prioritising close ties with the US vital to countering Iran than offering their usual unswerving support for a fairly devised state of Palestine.

The Islamic Republic remains the most vocal supporter of the Palestinian path to statehood, while Saudi Arabia’s repositioning on the matter has even seen it strike up informal relations with Israel.

While condemning the Trump administration’s peace plan as the “Treason of the century” against the people of Palestine and the Islamic community, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said: “The Zionist regime is a usurper and occupying regime, and the only way to settle the Palestinian crisis will be holding a referendum among the main inhabitants of the Palestinian land, and such vicious plans [as the US peace plan] are doomed to defeat.”

In a clear reference to the Saudis, and particulary de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who has struck up informal relations with Israel, Mousavi added: “It’s a pity that certain Islamic countries have neglected such a cause which has targeted the future and dignity of Muslims and that these Islamic countries have replaced the friend with the enemy, and are losing sight of more than 70 years of inhumane crimes committed by the Zionist regime, either intentionally or with strategic negligence.”

Standing alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, US President Donald Trump said his proposals "could be the last opportunity" for Palestinians. Palestinian leaders responded that they were not consulted on the offer beforehand, with President of the State of Palestine and Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas dismissing the peace plan as a "conspiracy".

Abbas added that it was "impossible for any Palestinian, Arab, Muslim or Christian child to accept" a Palestinian state without Jerusalem as its capital. "We say a thousand times, no, no, no," he said. "We rejected this deal from the start and our stance was correct."

On Fox News, Netanyahu said that over time the Palestinians would "see they'll never get a better deal".

In one part of the peace plan map, the Palestinians are offered pieces of land roughly the size of Gaza along the desert border with Egypt. Observers were quick to point out that there was no sign of life that far south in the desert.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Trump administration had simply "copied and pasted" the steps that Netanyahu wanted to see implemented. "It's about annexation, it's about apartheid," he said. "Moving to the de jure annexation of settlements is something that was given the green light yesterday."

Despite Palestinians’ rejection of the plan and boycott of Trump over perceived pro-Israel bias, three Gulf Arab states—Oman, Bahrain and the UAE—attended the White House gathering to announce the proposal.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry was critical of Arab countries after their generally positive comments on Trump’s plan. “Following the revelation of details of the American-Israeli conspiracy, it is unacceptable to hide behind ambiguous and murky statements in order to escape confronting this conspiracy,” it said in a statement.

However, a spokesman for Abbas said later he had received calls from Saudi King Salman and Lebanese President Michel Aoun “supportive of the Palestinian position”.