TEHRAN -- The leaders of
Palestinian resistance groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas held talks Monday with top Iranian officials in Tehran as deadly Israeli violence flared in the occupied West Bank.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi received Islamic Jihad chief Ziad Nakhaleh while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh held talks with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the newly-appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), ahead of a meeting with other top officials.
“The most efficient way to end the more than 75 years of occupation of Palestine is resistance,” Ahmadian told Haniyeh, according to the Nournews website close to the SNSC.
Nakhalah has been in Iran since last week and has met top Iranian officials, including Raisi and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.
On Monday, Raisi told Nakhaleh that the Zionist regime was seeking to normalize ties with more Arab and Muslim countries “to discourage young Palestinians from [seeking to] liberate the occupied territories,” the president’s office said in a statement, as he hailed Palestinian “resistance” against Israel.
In 2020, Israel established diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Bahrain under the Abraham Accords brokered by the United States.
Saudi Arabia has declined to recognize Israel, in part over the Saudis’ allegiance with the Palestinians. The kingdom and Iran agreed to mend ties in March, under a Chinese-brokered deal.
The Iran-Palestinian talks coincided with Israeli forces launching a raid on Jenin in the West Bank on Monday. The raid left five Palestinians martyred and saw eight Zionist soldiers injured.
Haniyeh, who arrived earlier Monday in Iran at the head of a large delegation, according to state news agency IRNA, was due to hold talks with Ayatollah Khamenei, Raisi and other officials.
Iran is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians and does not recognize Israel.
Ahmadian said on Monday Palestine is the prime issue of the Muslim world. He said strengthening unity among Muslims, especially the regional players of resistance front, will inflict the most severe damage on the Zionist enemy and its supporters. He touched upon the enemies’ attempts to sow division among the resistance groups. “The unity and support of the resistance groups for the Islamic Jihad movement in the recent war disappointed the Zionist enemy’s plot.”
The official said the Palestinian resistance, which once fought to defend itself in Gaza, has achieved a level of preparedness that is now consolidating its presence in the West Bank.
Haniyeh, for his part, expressed his gratitude for the outstanding and effective role of Iran in strengthening the unity and cooperation in the Muslim world and the Palestinian resistance groups.
He also briefed the Iranian official on political and field developments in Palestine as well as plans by the resistance to maintain and strengthen initiative measures in the face of the occupying regime.
On Sunday, President Raisi told Nakhala the resistance of brave Palestinians has brought them ever closer to triumph over the occupying Israeli regime.
The president reiterated the Islamic Republic’s support for the oppressed Palestinian nation and their “just cause,” which he said “remains the cause of all Muslims.”
Earlier this week, Nakhaleh met Ayatollah Khamenei, who lauded the latest victory of Islamic Jihad forces, saying the growing power of Palestinian resistance groups is the key to forcing the occupying regime to its knees.