Tabnak – Since the victory of the Islamic Revolution four decades ago, an essential part of Iran’s foreign policy has been to support the Palestinian movement against Israeli occupation. This major policy orientation was reaffirmed recently by Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei expressed confidence that the oppressed people of Palestine will emerge victorious in the face of Israeli occupiers and said the Islamic Republic has no hesitation when it comes to supporting Palestine.
Speaking at a meeting with a high-ranking delegation from the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, in Tehran on Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei described the Palestinian issue as “the first and foremost issue of the Muslim world” and hailed the resistance of the Palestinian people and political groups, including Hamas, as “wonderful”.
“Victory will not be achieved without resistance and struggle and, based on a definite divine promise, we believe that the issue of Palestine will surely end in favor of the Palestinian people and the Islamic world,” the Leader stated.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran does not stand on ceremony with any country in the world when it comes to Palestine,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding, “We have always expressed our views on Palestine clearly and transparently.”
“Even in the international arena, our friendly countries, with whom we have differences of opinion in this regard, know that the Islamic Republic is completely serious on the Palestinian issue,” the Leader stated.
“One of the major causes of hostility toward the Islamic Republic of Iran is the issue of Palestine but these hostilities and pressures will not make Iran retreat from its stance on the issue because support for Palestine is a religious issue,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
“If the Islamic world had stood firm unitedly with regard to the issue of Palestine, it would have better conditions now,” the Leader went on to say.
The move by countries that toe the line of the US, like Saudi Arabia, to distance themselves from the Palestinian issue is “absurd” because if they had supported the Palestinians, they could have won major concessions from the United States, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed.
During the meeting, deputy head of the Hamas Political Bureau Salih al-Aruri explained about defensive capabilities of the resistance front in Palestine, saying, “The defense advances achieved by Hamas and other resistance groups are by no means comparable to past years.”
The Palestinian official emphasized, “Today, the entire occupied territories as well as the main and sensitive centers of Zionists are within the reach of the missiles of Palestinian resistance [groups].”
Elsewhere in his remarks, al-Aruri noted that as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution had said, “we believe that al-Quds and Palestine will be freed from the clutches of Zionists in line with the divine promise, and all Muslim Mujahids and the entire Islamic Ummah will pray at al-Aqsa Mosque.”
