Palestine among Iran’s important, priority foreign policy concerns: WAIA chief
Palestine’s issue is still among the important and top priority concerns in Iran’s foreign policy, said the secretary-general of the World Assembly of Islamic Awakening (WAIA).
In an address to an online meeting titled ‘Quds Day: The Day of the Oppressed Men and Women’ held by WAIA, Ali Akbar Velayati added, “We have always been sympathetic toward our Palestinian brothers and fighting beside them in the same front,” IRNA reported.
Commemorating all Palestinian and non-palestinian martyrs who sacrificed their lives to liberate Al-quds from Israel’s occupation, particularly top Iranian antiterrorism commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani as well as late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, he stressed that Iran’s solidarity and cooperation with the Palestinians go beyond the political and diplomatic scenes and are manifested in the fields of action and resistance.
Velayati said the International Quds Day, Imam Khomeini’s valued legacy, is a divine day, which shows that Palestine’s issue must remain atop the Muslim world’s concerns and strategic priorities.
Quds Day was initiated by Imam Khomeini soon after the victory of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The occasion is marked annually on the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which fell on May 7 this year. On this day, people across the world hold rallies expressing their solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposition to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Velayati said that as stated by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Palestine is the Muslim world’s “the most alive” common concern, which is required to be constantly revived by Muslims and become a source of awakening and awareness for them.
He stressed that the International Quds Day and achieving the sublime targets of the occasion are among the prospects of the Islamic awakening.
Velayati added the day is also a source for generating strong motivations for obliteration of the Zionist regime, urging that the liberation of Al-quds must become the pivot and center of the Muslim world’s unity.
WAIA secretary-general emphasized that improving resistance groups’ software and hardware infrastructure is the important agenda for accomplishing this noble end, saying “resistance and fighting” are currently needed more than ever.
In a live televised address to mark the International Quds Day on Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said Israel is not a country but a terrorist base against the people of Palestine and other Muslim nations, according to Press TV.
“Since the first day, the Zionists turned the usurped Palestine into a terrorist base. Israel is not a country, rather it is a terrorist camp against the Palestinian nation and other Muslim nations,” the Leader noted.
He voiced confidence that the downward movement of the Zionist regime has already started and “it will never stop”.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the issue of Palestine continues to be the most important and active issue for the Muslim world collectively.