Iran, as ever, will spare no effort to fight off Israeli evil

Ayatollah Khamenei addressed the remarks to Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, in a letter dated Saturday.

“The Islamic Republic, as before, does not stint on any effort to support the oppressed Palestinian people, redress their rights, and also fight off the bogus and usurping Zionist regime’s evil,” the Leader noted.

Iran stays true to the cause in line with its religious and humanitarian duty and also in keeping with the value-based principles of its Islamic Revolution, the letter noted.

The letter served as a response to one written by Haniyeh.

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.”

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the plan to annex 30 percent of the occupied Palestinian territory -- namely the areas upon which the regime has built its illegal settlements as well as the Jordan Valley -- after US President Donald Trump backed the annexation in January.

Trump pledged the support while unveiling some details of the “deal of the century.”

The highly controversial scheme allegedly seeks to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but is heavily tilted in favor of the occupying regime. As well as backing the annexation, the scheme re-endorses Washington’s incendiary recognition in late 2017 of Jerusalem al-Quds as “Israel’s capital,” although Palestinians want the occupied holy city’s eastern part to serve as the capital of their future state.

Palestinians have roundly rejected either the American design or the Israeli plan that is rooted in it, with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, threatening the Israeli regime against annexing even “an inch” of the West Bank.

Ayatollah Khamenei said he had paid close attention to Haniyeh’s message, expressing gratitude to the Palestinian resistance for its struggle and steadfastness in the face of the American and Israeli regimes.

The resistance’s struggle, the Leader said, has “caused weakness and frustration for them (the US 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.

The Palestinian nation’s enemy then tried advancing its goals by way of the negotiation ploy and the so-called plan for peace and reconciliation, the letter added.

The courageous Palestinian nation, however, did not brook their threats and alleged incentives, and instead chose the path of “esteem and honor” as before by resorting to wisdom and experience and through its exemplary persistence, Ayatollah Khamenei stated.

The Palestinian nation "will continue down this straight path from now on too,” the Leader noted.

Ayatollah Khamenei finally hoped that alertness, unity, and integrity among the Palestinian people and factions proves effective in negating the enemy’s “sinister plans” and invites “divine victory.”

Reacting to Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter to Haniyeh, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement said the letter by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution proves Iran’s strategic support for the Palestinian nation.

Hamas added in its statement that its forces “will continue resistance [against Israel] until its [West Bank] annexation plans are defeated.”

“Iran’s supportive position raises hope that the future belongs to us,” Hamas noted.