Steadfast Support for Palestinian Cause

Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Iran will support any group that is "steadfast" in advancing the Palestinian cause and putting an end to decades-long Israeli occupation, stressing that it is up to all regional states to unite in supporting the resistance of the oppressed nation.

"Our position on the resistance is a fundamental position, one which has nothing to do with any particular group. We are with every group that is steadfast on this path and every group that abandons this path has drifted away from us."

The Leader made the statements in an opening speech to the Sixth International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada (Uprising) in Tehran on Tuesday, according to a transcript posted on Khamenei.ir.

"All regional nations and governments and all freedom-seekers in the world should meet the main needs of this resistant nation," Ayatollah Khamenei said.

"No one has the right to have special expectations of them in return for assistance."

The two-day conference is being held amid reports that the US, a major supporter of Israel, is contacting four Arab countries, namely Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the UAE, to settle differences with Israel and normalize relations, and push Palestinians  to settle the Palestine conflict and form a front against Iran. 

Iran became a staunch supporter of Palestine after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

Earlier, Ayatollah Khamenei had said, "By Allah's favor and grace, nothing called the 'Zionist regime' will exist in 25 years from now." 

The conference, which is held to show solidarity with the oppressed nation in the face of Israeli occupation and atrocities, is attended by 80 delegations from across the world, comprising over 700 foreign guests including government officials, heads of Islamic organizations, leaders of various Palestinian groups, and intellectuals and scholars.

Participants include senior Iranian officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani.

  Palestine Pivot of Unity

Palestine has witnessed increased violence since last August, when Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinians into the al-Aqsa Mosque's compound in East Beit-ul-Moqaddas.

Protests against the restrictions have been met with a deadly Israeli crackdown, which has in turn prompted strengthened Palestinian resistance, known as the third Palestinian intifada.

The first intifada took place between 1987 and 1993, and the second one in the 2000s.

The Leader said supporters of the Israeli regime are making efforts to "weaken the position of the issue of Palestine and to give it the lowest priority" for the Muslim world, but all Muslim countries have a responsibility to support Palestinian resistance, which should be a source of unity in the Muslim world.

"Despite the differences among Islamic countries … the issue of Palestine can and should be the pivot of unity for all Islamic countries," Ayatollah Khamenei said. 

"Even if Muslim and freedom-seeking nations have different viewpoints and opinions, they can gather together to pursue one goal, which is Palestine and the necessity of liberating it."

  Resistance Forced Israeli Retreat 

The Leader said Palestinians have no way but to continue on the path of resistance to retake what Zionists stole from them.

"People of Palestine have no option other than keeping the flames of fighting alight by relying on Allah, the Exalted, and by relying on their innate capabilities, as they have genuinely done so until today." 

Responding to claims that resistance has not helped Palestine achieve its freedom and should be discarded, the Leader said resistance has stopped Zionists from taking the whole region. 

"In response, we say that although the resistance has not yet managed to achieve its ultimate goal—the complete liberation of Palestine—it has managed to keep the issue of Palestine alive. We should ask in what condition we would have been if the resistance did not exist. The most important achievement of the resistance is creating a major barrier in the way of Zionist projects." 

The Leader said the resistance's success lies in launching a war of attrition against the enemy, which has defeated the main plan of the Zionist regime, namely dominating the whole region.

"If the resistance had not brought the Zionist regime to its knees, we would be witnessing its transgressions against other regional countries—from Egypt to Jordan, and from Iraq, the Persian Gulf region to other areas."

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that this is not the only achievement the resistance has made.

"Since the early 1980s, not only has the Zionist regime not been able to grab new lands, but it has also begun to retreat. This retreat began with its humiliating withdrawal from southern Lebanon and it continued with another humiliating withdrawal from Gaza," he said. 

  Compromise Doesn't Work

The Leader said the Islamic Republic has always insisted that trying to make compromise with Israel is a big mistake.

"The problem with compromise is not only that it legitimizes a usurping regime by violating the rights of a nation—of course, this is a grave and unforgivable mistake in itself—rather the problem is that it is completely at odds with the current condition of Palestine and does not take into account the expansionist, oppressive and greedy characteristics of the Zionists," he said. 

"Fundamentally, the Zionist regime was formed in a way that it could not avoid seeking dominance, suppressing others and violating the true rights of Palestinians."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that with the emergence of signs of the collapse in the Zionist regime and the weakness that has dominated its main allies, particularly the US, the global environment is gradually moving toward confronting the "hostile, illegal and inhuman" activities of Israel.

The Leader said the third intifada, while being subject to more severe suppression by the Israeli regime than the previous two, will "begin a very important chapter" in the history of resistance and "inflict another defeat on that usurping regime (Israel)".

Pointing to the phased expansion of Israeli occupation, Ayatollah Khamenei said the cure for the disaster should also come in stages.

"From the beginning, this cancerous tumor has been developing in several phases until it turned into the current disaster. The cure for this tumor should also be developed in phases," he said.

"Until today, several intifadas and a constant and continuous resistance managed to achieve very important phased goals. The Palestinian intifada continues to march forward in a thunderous manner so that it can achieve its other goals until the complete liberation of Palestine."