TEHRAN – An Iranian diplomat with the Iranian embassy in Lebanon has met with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s representative to Lebanon. 

The Iranian diplomat, Karamullah Moshtaqi, who is a political advisor to the embassy, met with the Islamic Jihad official, Ihsan Ataya, at the latter’s office in Beirut. 

The Iranian diplomat relayed Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani’s congratulations to Ataya on the martyrdom of the members of the Palestinian resistance movement in the recent flare-up with Israel, according to Al Alam. 

Moshtaqi saluted the Mujahideen of the Al-Quds Brigades, praising the brigades' performance in confronting Israel’s aggression.

During the meeting, it was insisted on the importance of the role of the "Islamic Jihad Movement" in managing the battle of "the unity of the battlefields", its merit in leading the military confrontation against the barbaric aggression on Gaza, and response to the assassination of Taysir al-Jabari by striking Tel Aviv in order to create an equation in protecting the resistance leaders from the Israeli targeted killings.

The meeting also discussed ways to prevent the enemy from achieving its goals, and thwarting its attempts to sow discord between the Jihad movement and the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza.

During its three-day aggression against the Gaza Strip from August 5 to 7, Israel killed more than 40 Palestinian civilians, including 16 children. After the unprovoked aggression against the Gaza Strip, Israel accepted an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that put an end to its bombing of civilian homes.

The flare-up began when Israel started aggression against Gaza with the purpose of eliminating the Islamic Jihad movement in Palestine.

The movement agreed to the ceasefire. It underlined in a statement its right to respond to any Israeli aggression.

Speaking at a press conference held after the announcement of the ceasefire, al-Nakhalah said Israel failed to achieve the goals it set for its recent aggression which is to eliminate the leaders of the resistance movement.

“The Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip scored an achievement, led by the Islamic Jihad movement… the enemy raised a specific slogan, which is the liquidation of the Islamic Jihad movement and its military arm, but the movement today is stronger than ever,” he said, adding that the resistance movement had the upper hand during the flare-up evidenced by its ability to shower Israeli targets with missiles.

Al-Nakhalah kept in touch with Iran’s high-ranking officials after the Israeli aggression. He sent a letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, and spoke over the phone with Speaker of Iranian Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. 

In his letter, al-Nakhalah confirmed the widespread presence of Palestinian Resistance fighters, particularly from the Islamic Jihad and the military branch of Saraya al-Quds, in all of Palestine, especially in Gaza and the West Bank, according to khamenei.ir. He said, “Due to the presence of the troops of the Jihad Resistance, not a single day passes without clashes taking place with the Zionist regime in the West Bank.”

The Leader responded to the letter of al-Nakhalah. In his reply, Ayatollah Khamenei stated that he considered the Islamic Jihad’s courageous resistance to be the reason for both the elevation of the movement's position and their ability to nullify the Zionist regime’s deception while crushing them.

“I received your honorable, promising letter with its good news. May God reward you and hurry the ultimate victory of the admirable and oppressed Palestinian nation. The recent event has added to the honors of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement and elevated the status of Islamic Jihad in the magnificent Resistance movement of the Palestinian nation. With your courageous Resistance, you have nullified the policy of deception of the usurping regime,” the Leader said, according to khamenei.ir.

In the conversation between Qalibaf and Al-Nakhalah, the speaker of parliament congratulated the Palestinian leader on the recent victory achieved by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad against Israel. 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran stands by the Palestinian nation and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance under all circumstances and with all its might,” Qalibaf told al-Nakhalah, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA. 

Expressing regret over the martyrdom of the commanders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in the recent battle with Israel, Qalibaf said, “The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is one of the most effective resistance movements of the Palestinian people against the occupying regime of Jerusalem, which plays an important role in confronting this regime.”