Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi met with Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh held talks with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the newly-appointed secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).
“The most effective way to end the more than 75 years of occupation of Palestine is resistance,” Ahmadian told Haniyeh, who arrived in Iran on Monday at the head of a large delegation.
Nakhalah has been in Iran since last week and has met top Iranian officials, including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and President Raeisi.
On Monday, Raeisi told Nakhalah that Israel 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.
Raeisi insists that acts of resistance by brave Palestinians have brought them ever closer to triumph over the occupying Israeli regime.
“With Jihad and resistance, we will approach victory day by day,” Raeisi said.
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.”
The Iran-Palestinian talks coincided with Israeli forces launching a raid on Jenin in the West Bank on Monday. The raid left five Palestinians dead and saw five Israeli border police and two soldiers injured.
Iran is a staunch supporter of the Palestinians and does not recognize Israel.