He introduced Palestine as the axis of Muslim unity and saw it as the most important issue for the Muslim world. The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran urged Muslims across the world to reaffirm their support and solidarity for the Palestinian cause on the last Friday of Ramadan.
The illustrious legacy of Imam Khomeini was admirably carried forward by his worthy successor, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayeed Ali Khamenei, who has been the most vocal champion of the Palestinian cause and resistance.
His vision is the continuation of resistance in the struggle for the liberation of occupied Palestinian territories from the settler-colonial Zionist entity. In line with this vision, Iran has for years backed resistance groups in Palestine in fighting the occupation.
In his address on International Quds Day in 2022, Ayatollah Khamenei said it was the "existence of the resistance that cleansed the occupied parts of Lebanon from the Zionists, pulled Iraq out of the throat of the United States and saved it from ISIS, helped the Syrian defenders against U.S. plans, and fought international terrorism."
He said it was the resistance that was "aiding the resilient people of Yemen in the war imposed on them" and it was the resistance that "will bring the Zionist usurpers to their knees by hand-to-hand combat through divine success and make the issue of Quds and Palestine more prominent in the world public opinion through effort and struggle."
Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, the country has been working indefatigably to support the Palestinian people and their struggle to defend themselves and their land in the face of Zionist aggression and occupation.
The resistance groups based in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank have over the years developed self-reliance and can take on the occupiers without any external help. But Iran remains the pillar of support and strength for them.
Iran's unflinching and steadfast support to the Palestinian resistance has been acknowledged, among others, by the leaders of these resistance groups. In their own words, Iran has supported the Palestinian resistance in letter and spirit, unlike many rich Muslim-Arab countries.
Iran as an all-weather ally and benefactor
Ziad al-Nakhaleh- Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement (PIJ), in remarks during his recent visit to Tehran acknowledged that Iran's support was critical for the resistance against Israeli occupation.
Nakhaleh said the Palestinian people could not stand against the West-backed Israeli regime if not for Iran's unwavering support.
He commended Iran's key role, including its active diplomacy, in supporting the indomitable resistance of the Palestinian people since the launch of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in early October 2023.
Al-Nakhaleh, who held wide-ranging talks with the senior Iranian leadership, noted that Iran has paid a price for its constant support for the Palestinian people and in defense of their rights, including in the form of sanctions.
He particularly expressed his gratitude to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayeed Ali Khamenei for strongly championing the just and legitimate cause of Palestinians against the Zionist occupation.
Nakhaleh has always acknowledged Iran's support for the Palestinian resistance. In an interview with an Iraq-based media network in 2023, he said if Israel demolishes a house in the occupied West Bank, it is the Islamic Republic of Iran that pays to rebuild it.
"If I calculate all the money the Iranians have paid the Palestinians in these 30 years, it is billions of dollars. At the same time Arab countries have not paid even 100 dollars," he was quoted as saying at the time.
In his address ahead of the International Quds Day on April 5, the PIJ secretary general said, "We have come to discover that our Arab and Muslim brothers cannot even offer a glass of water to the thirsty."
Then he went on to praise Iran's support for the Palestinian nation, as well as its efforts to bolster the resistance and support it.
"We commend the historical role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in supporting the resistance," the Islamic Jihad leader said.
Firm support of Iranian leadership
Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, has also never missed an opportunity to acknowledge Iran's support for Palestine.
During his latest visit to Tehran late last month, when he held talks with senior Iranian leaders including the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Haniyeh said Hamas appreciates "Iran's position on Palestine."
While commending the November 2023 ceasefire as a "political and military" victory for the resistance front, Hamas's politburo chief appreciated the Islamic Republic for its strong support for the Palestinian people and resistance amid the Israeli genocidal war.
Haniyeh acknowledged the "firm support of the Iranian leadership, the president, the government and the people of Iran," as well as the "active diplomatic support of the Iranian minister of foreign affairs for the Palestinian issue and its people, especially during the ongoing Israeli war against Gaza."
He has for years shared a close relationship with Iran and famously hailed the top anti-terror commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani as the "martyr of Quds" following his assassination in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020.
In 2021, Haniyeh said Hamas has "a strategic relationship with our brothers in the Islamic Republic of Iran, with our brothers in Hezbollah and with many others in the region", adding that it is "no secret that Iran played a very important role in building the force that was seen during the Battle of the Sword of Jerusalem."
Hamas chief further said that Palestine's relations with Iran are "strategic, stable, solid, evolving, ready to face major tasks, first and foremost of which is the cause of Palestine and Jerusalem, as well as to confront the American-Zionist plans in the region."
Had it not been for Iran, he noted, the Palestinian leadership would have not progressed.
"Let me reiterate not for Iran's support for the resistance in Palestine, we would not have obtained these capabilities. Indeed, our (Arab) nation has deserted us. Our nation has deserted us in the most difficult moments while Iran has supported us with weapons, equipment, and expertise," Haniyeh was quoted as saying in 2019.
Imam Khomeini, supporter of Palestine
Yahya al Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza and the mastermind of Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, is another Palestinian leader who has always acknowledged Iran's support
In a statement last year, he acknowledged the role played by the Islamic Republic of Iran in supporting the resistance forces in Palestine against the Israeli occupation.
"We are building the strength of resistance in Gaza to reach what it has reached by the grace of God. With the support of Iran and its financial, logistical and technical support," he said at the time.
Sinwar praised Imam Khomeini's role in highlighting the Palestine issue globally.
"Imam Khomeini has set the last Friday of Ramadan as a world day for Jerusalem. The Islamic Ummah and the freemen of the world celebrate this occasion so that Jerusalem remains present in the conscience of the Ummah and the conscience of the world," said the Hamas leader who has become the nightmare for the Israeli occupation.
"The Islamic Republic has translated the covenant and will of Imam Khomeini, the best translation over the past years."
He also hailed the contribution of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution to the issue of Palestine.
"The great concern of the Supreme Guide of the Revolution, Imam Khamenei, may God preserve him, for Jerusalem and Al Aqsa and in the building and support of the resistance forces to achieve the goal of liberation...and also the participation of the President of the Republic, Ebrahim Reisi, may God preserve him we have today with his noble word," Sinwar asserted.
At a press conference in 2021, Sinwar expressed his gratitude to the Islamic Republic for leaving no stone unturned in supporting the Palestinian resistance.
"They have provided us with money, weapons and expertise. They have supported us in everything, with the grace of Allah. They deserve huge credit. They weren't with us on the ground, but they were with us through those capabilities, with which we crushed and rocked the enemy... they have supported us in everything, with the grace of Allah. They deserve huge credit," he said.
In his interaction with the media in 2019, Al-Sinwar said Hamas hit Tel Aviv with 170 missiles in 2014, including the Fajr missile which was provided by Iran.
Most of the missiles, he remarked, were locally made, but "with the financial and technical support of Iran."
"Let me reiterate- if not for Iran's support for the resistance in Palestine, we would have not obtained these capabilities'. Indeed our Arab nations have deserted us ...while Iran has supported us with weapons, equipment and expertise," the Hamas leader said.
Iran's support for Al-Aqsa Storm Op.
Abu Obeidah, the spokesperson for Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, in one of the viral videos following the events of October 7 expressed gratitude to all those supporting the resistance, singling out Iran.
"Since Allah graced us with this development [Al-Aqsa Storm], and with this victory and this humiliation of the enemy, we have to thank those whom Allah enlisted to take part in this development... first and foremost the Islamic Republic of Iran," he stressed.
He hastened to add that Iran "did not withhold from us funds, weapons and other [forms of aid] and helped us in our resistance by supplying us with missiles that pulverized the Zionist strongholds during the attacks and battles we waged against the occupier, and also supplied us with quality anti-tank missiles that crushed the legendary Zionist Merkava [tank]."
In 2022, the Hamas military wing spokesman, thanked the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei for constantly supporting Palestine and its resistance, despite challenges and obstacles.
Ahmed Abdel Hadi, Hamas representative in Lebanon, in November last year said Iran's role "has been to support Palestine."
Hadi also praised the role played by Gen. Soleimani, "the martyr of Al-Quds", in helping Palestinians bypass the blockade imposed by the Zionist regime on the coastal strip.
"The idea of tunnels came from two people. The first is the martyred commander, Imad Mughnieh and the second is Hajj Qasim Soleimani. General Soleimani traveled to Gaza, more than once and participated in developing (Gaza's) defense strategy from the very beginning," Hadi said at the time.
Iran and Palestinian military capabilities
Talal Naji, the Secretary General of the Palestinian communist group, in a 2021 interview asserted that the Islamic Republic "has made a great contribution and invested a lot of effort in developing the military capabilities of the Palestinian resistance through training, developing weapons."
He added that Iran also imparted Palestinian resistance commanders in Gaza and the occupied West Bank the technological know-how to manufacture weaponry.
Ramez al-Halabi, an official of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who has faced imprisonment by the regime, has on many occasions expressed admiration for Iran's role in supporting various resistance groups.
In a TV show in 2021, Al Halabi said, "The contours of the victories in Palestine as of late were outlined with the blood of Qassem Soleimani, Iranian blood... the axis between Jerusalem and Beirut, the axis between Jerusalem and Baghdad, the axis between Jerusalem and Damascus, the axis between Jerusalem and Sanaa and the first and the foremost, the axis between Jerusalem and Tehran - it is a victorious axis."
"I am proud to say that the rockets that are used to pound Tel Aviv have an Iranian signature on them, the signature of Qassem Soleimani. The Kormet missiles that we use to blow up the Israeli tanks- the pride of the Israeli and global defense industry the Kornet missiles of Qassem Soleimani and Iran."
PIJ official and former prisoner added that almost "every home in Gaza has a picture of Gen. Soleimani, a picture of the Islamic Republic as well as a picture of the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation so that those who fast can have their iftar meals."
Speaking on the humanitarian aid sent by the Islamic Republic of Iran to Palestine, Al Halabi added the Shafai Sunni Gazans in the Gaza Strip from Rafah to Beit Hanoun receive plates of food to break their fast "with the seals of Qassem Soleimani and the Islamic Republic of Iran."
"I ask Allah to reward Iran. They are the ones who support us with weapons, money and food," he remarked.
Comment: Some analysts have commented that Iran's response to Israel's attack on its consulate in Syria, will consist of a direct, symbolic, response, however, more importantly, it will also significantly increase its support for these resistance movements in terms of funding, but also more advanced weaponry. Notably, just prior to Israel's attack, Yemen's Ansra Allah announced they had hypersonic missiles: How do Iranians 'boil a frog'? Slowly and methodically