Iranian FM meets with Resistance leaders in Lebanon

TEHRAN, (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has held an extended meeting with the leaders of the Palestinian resistance movements of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad during a sojourn in Lebanon.

The top Iranian diplomat held the meeting on Thursday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, to which he has traveled following a two-day visit to Syria.

Both sides laid emphasis during the meeting on the need for the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli regime's occupation.

The Islamic Republic, the Iranian foreign minister told the Resistance leaders, was still committed to its strategy of lending support to the Palestinian nation and Resistance and backing Palestine's liberation from occupation.

Amir-Abdollahian, meanwhile, cited Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei as stressing the need for the provision of support for the occupied West Bank -- where the Israeli regime has increased its atrocities since the inauguration of its hard-right cabinet led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

For their part, the Palestinian officials said they considered Resistance to be the strategic option for the Palestinian nation.

"There will be no retreat from the Resistance's operations in the West Bank," they said, calling the operations a "priority."

Back in June, Iran hosted a delegation of the Gaza Strip-based Resistance movements' officials, including the Islamic Jihad's Secretary-General Ziad al-Nakhala, which was being led by Hamas' Politburo Chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

The Palestinian officials held meetings during the visit with Ayatollah Khamenei as well as various Iranian officials.

Meeting with Haniyeh, the Leader praised the remarkable achievements of Palestinian Resistance groups and the sacrifices made by the Palestinian youth in the occupied territories, saying the West Bank was where the Israeli regime would be brought to its knees.

Ayatollah Khamenei also met with Nakhala, congratulating the Islamic Jihad's victory against the Israeli regime during Tel Aviv's latest war on Gaza, and stating, "The Zionist enemy is in a position of passivity and reaction today.

These circumstances indicate that the Resistance groups and the Islamic Jihad have recognized the path ahead correctly, and are walking down this path with prudence."