Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and Secretary of
Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili slammed on Monday the blockade on the Gaza Strip as "economic genocide", local satellite Press TV reported.
The "continuation of the seizure of people in Gaza (by Israel) is an economic genocide,"
Jalili said in a meeting with visiting Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement leader Khaled
Meshaal in Tehran.
Iran would continue its support for the Palestinian people, Jalili said, calling on "all
freedom-seeking nations and countries to support ideals of the Palestinians."
Meshaal, for his part, praised Iran's leading role in the "honorable victory" of the
Palestinian people against Israel and said Hamas would continue its resistance against TelAviv, according to Press TV. Referring to the 22-day Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip last
winter, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday reiterated his country's overall support for the Palestinians and said that the savage actions of Zionist (Israel) regime against Palestinians will not save their system.
Hamas is labelled a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel. However, Iran,
which has never hesitated to pronounce its all-out support for Hamas, considers it the rightful Palestinian government to restore occupied Palestinian lands by Israel.