TEHRAN - Kamal Kharrazi, chairman of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, said on Sunday that liberation of Palestine, especially the noble Quds, is among the greatest causes of Iran.

During a meeting with Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas, Kharrazi said that Iran has supported Palestine since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

For his part, Arouri, who was accompanied by a delegation to Tehran, praised Iran’s position in supporting the Palestinian issue.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Kharrazi said relations between Iran and Hamas are growing.

“Policies of the enemies of Islam and Palestine in supporting occupant Israel are obvious. The Palestinians are aware of these policies and have come to the conclusion that they should stand against the foreigners’ plots,” stated Kharrazi, who was Iran’s foreign minister from 1997-2005.

Pointing to the U.S. proposed “deal of the century”, he said that the Palestinian people countered the plot and all the Muslims condemned it.

Under the deal of the century, U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed to limit Palestine’s land to around half of the West Bank.

The International Quds Day, which falls on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, was marked on May 31. This year’s demonstrations revolved around the slogan of “The International Quds Day, failure of deal of the century and stabilization of the Palestine cause”.

A Hamas delegation headed by Musa Abu Marzouq also met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Bogdanov in Moscow, the Middle East Monitor reported on July 17.

Abu Marzouq briefed the Russian official on the political developments of the Palestinian issue including the U.S. “deal of the century”, stressing that all Palestinian people reject it.

The senior Russian official confirmed that Moscow is interested in following up on the political developments in Palestine and the region.

He stressed that Russia supports the Palestinian rights and rejects the deal of the century, highlighting that Moscow’s absence during the Bahrain workshop was evidence of this.

The Hamas delegation reiterated that the movement is eager to achieve reconciliation with other Palestinian factions by holding general elections, forming a unity government and agreeing on a comprehensive national program.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the visiting delegation that national unity should be a priority for all Palestinian factions, expressing his rejection of the “punitive policy” adopted by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas highlighted the difficult conditions under which Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and al-Quds (Jerusalem) live, as well as the situation for those in the diaspora.

Abu Marzouk said he believes Russia could be a “strong player” in achieving internal Palestinian reconciliation.

NA/PA