Islamic Jihad delegation visits Iran to ‘discuss ways to strengthen intifada’
Jerusalem Post/May 01/16
An official delegation of the Islamic Jihad has been visiting Iran to discuss the ways to strengthen the intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, Palestinian media reported on Sunday.
According to a statement issued by the Palestinian terror organization, the delegation, headed by the organization’s Secretary General Ramadan Abdullah will visit Iran for a few days. The Palestinian delegation will meet Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and the chief of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani.
The Islamic jihad announced that “the delegation visiting Tehran has met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, as well as other senior Iranian officials.
In these meetings, the parties discussed the current circumstances prevailing in the Islamic nation and especially the issue of Palestine and the ways to bolster the intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem opposing the “Zionist expansionism.”
Additional subjects discussed were the attempts to “Judaize al-Aksa mosque” and the need to support the steadfastness of Gazans in light of the 10-year blockade.
In a press statement, Islamic Jihad’s secretary general underscored the importance of Iran’s support for the Palestinian people, and expressed his chagrin over what he called “the Arab indifference toward Palestine and its oppressed people.”
In his Saturday meeting with Ramadan Abdullah, the Head of the Strategic Research Center of Iran’s Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati said: “the West’s attempts to divide the Islamic world will fail. Iran will support the Palestinian people and continue fighting against terror and the Zionist entity, together with all Muslim states.”
The high-level visit by the Islamic Jihad delegation to Iran, as well as Abdullah’s declarations praising Iran as the standard-bearer of the Palestinian resistance seem to aim at pushing Iran to enlarge its financial aid to the Palestinian organization, which is in dire need of money.
The financial distress of the Palestinian terror organization emerged last year, after Tehran significantly cut its funds and began supporting a new Shi’ite organization in the Gaza Strip called al-Sabireen.
