Ayatollah Khamenei: Iran will spare no effort in backing Palestinians

TEHRAN - In response to a letter by Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reiterated that Iran will “spare no effort” in backing the oppressed Palestinians against the Zionist regime of Israel. “The Islamic Republic of Iran, like the past, as a religious and human duty and also based on the principles of the Islamic Revolution, will spare no effort for supporting the oppressed Palestinian people and restoration of their rights and fending off the evil of the fake and usurper Zionist regime,” Ayatollah Khamenei stated in the response letter. The Palestinian official had recently sent letters to more than 120 Arab and Muslim officials, calling on them to join hands in defense of the Palestinian cause, and devise mechanisms to stop Israel’s plan to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank, calling Tel Aviv’s decision “criminal and racist.” The Leader said, “I have carefully studied your message about the current conditions of dear Palestine. I appreciate all Jihadi forces for the Resistance movement that has set the ground for weakening the U.S. and Zionist regime,” Ayatollah Khomeini wrote. The resistance’s struggle, the Leader noted, has “caused weakness and frustration for them (the U.S. and Israel), and has, on the other hand, awarded esteem and pride to the Muslim nation.” After suffering “irreparable” defeats in the battleground, the “pitiable enemy” tried furthering its expansionist approach and attempts at violating Palestinians’ rights through laying a siege on the Gaza Strip and subjecting the coastal sliver to economic pressure, Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter read. The Leader was referring to the blockade that the Tel Aviv regime began to impose on Gaza after Hamas came to rule the enclave. “With the logic of wisdom, reasoning, and experience, the brave Palestinian nation has overcome the Zionists' threats,” the Leader remarked. The Leader noted that awareness, unity, and solidarity among the Palestinian people and groups will have an effective role in thwarting the plans of the enemy by the Zionists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to start annexing all settlement blocs and the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. The move, however, appears to have come to a halt in light of widespread international rejection of the plan. More than 320 scholars, former presidents and legislators from Latin America joined forces to condemn Israel’s planned annexation of parts of the occupied Palestinian territories. In a joint statement, the public personalities said, “The increasing severity of the Israeli violations and its impunity compel us to answer to the call made by the vast majority of organizations from the Palestinian civil society,” Middle East Monitor reported on July 3. “We support the Palestinian people’s demands to end the arm trades and the military and security cooperation with Israel; to lift the free trade agreements with that State; to ban the trade with the illegal Israeli settlements; and to hold accountable the individuals and cooperative actors, complicit with such regime of occupation and apartheid.”