Iran's high ranking officials have reiterated the country's all-out support for the Palestinian resistance during the three-day visit of Islamic Hamas movement leader Khaled Meshaal to Tehran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in a meeting with Meshaal that "the defaming of Israel in Gaza issue is entirely indebted to the brave resistance of the Palestinian nation, led by the Hamas movement," the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday.
"The indecent and arrogant moves made by hegemonic powers and the Zionist regime (of
Israel) versus the status and prestige of Hamas have thus far been entirely futile," Mottaki was
quoted as saying, referring to the attempts launched to defame Hamas by Israel and some
Western countries.
Meshaal, for his part, said, "relations between Hamas and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Arabic Republic of Syria, the Republic of Turkey, the Emirate of Qatar, the Republic of
Indonesia and other Islamic countries have always been a cause for pride of these nations and
governments."
"We say very clearly that Iran is supporting the Palestinian resistance ... the Palestinian
cause and the Palestinian rights, and this is enough," Meshaal was quoted as saying by local
satellite channel Press TV. "We appreciated the position of Iran... to ease the suffering of the
Palestinian people," Meshaal told a press conference.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Monday said in a meeting with Meshaal that Hamas is a symbol of confrontation with "Zionist" regime and resistance against its acquisitiveness, according to Fars. Larijani recalled that Iran has always supported Palestinians' goals since the Islamic Revolution victory and it regards the approach as one of its great honors.
Larijani strongly criticized the U.S. administration's approach towards the Palestinian
issue, adding that Washington failed to provide Palestinians with basic rights.
"The U.S. incumbent administration has failed to materialize the basic rights of
Palestinians," he was quoted as saying.
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," Press TV
reported.
The "continuation of the blockade of people in Gaza (by Israel) is an economic genocide," Jalili said in a meeting with the visiting Palestinian faction leader.
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."
On Sunday, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a meeting with Khaled Meshaal,
reiterated his country's overall support for the Palestinians.
The savage actions of Zionist (Israel) regime against Palestinians will not save their
system, said Ahmadinejad, referring to the 22-day Israeli onslaught in the Gaza Strip last winter.
Hamas is labelled a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel, however, Iran
considers it the rightful Palestinian government to restore occupied Palestinian lands from Israel.