TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced on Sunday that the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Zionist regime signified its defeat in the face of “heroic resistance” shown by the Gaza people.

The ceasefire shows that the Zionist regime has failed to “achieve its goals”, Mottaki said in a statement on Monday.
The remarks come as Israel declared a ceasefire which began at 2:00 am (0000 GMT) on Sunday.
The foreign minister said the Gaza people’s victory over the Israeli forces during the past 22 days finally made the political and military leaders of the Zionist regime make such a decision.
“The reason behind the decision taken by the political and military leaders of the Zionist regime was the regime’s failure to accomplish the goals it had announced and that the valiant people of Gaza and Islamic resistance have emerged the victors during the past 22 days in the battle against the Israeli army (which is) armed to the teeth,” he pointed out.
Palestinian resistance forces declared on Sunday that they will stop their fight against Israel to give the invading forces the time to leave Gaza.
Mottaki also insisted that Israel must withdraw its troops from the enclave.
“Just halting air, ground and sea attacks is not enough” and Tel Aviv must pull out its troops from the occupied areas, he added.
The presence of the Zionist forces in the region is “provocative” and as long as the Israeli forces have not pulled out “there is no guarantee” for a halt to the clashes.
“Reopening of the border crossings and the withdrawal of the Zionist regime troops from Gaza” can pave the way for the situation to calm down, he noted.
Hamas victory keeps it in political scene for ever: expert
International expert Ahmad Bakhshayeshi Ardestani said on Sunday that the victory of Hamas will perpetuate the presence of Hamas in the political scene of Palestine.
“With its victory in Gaza, Hamas will remain for ever in the political scene of Palestine.”
Pointing to the ceasefire declared in Gaza, the expert said, “Surely, Israel has suffered a defeat in Gaza. This is the second failure of this regime and will not be the last one.”
Bakhshayeshi made a reference to the failure of the Zionist regime to achieve its objectives in invading Gaza, saying, “Israel did whatever it could but we saw that it did not succeed. This is the beginning of the historical downturn of the Zionist regime.”
Helping Gazans, a ‘humanitarian and Islamic duty’
MP Ali Motahhari stated helping the innocent Palestinian nation is a “humanitarian and Islamic duty”.
“We have both humanitarian and Islamic duties with regard to the Palestinian people. We can institutionalize this in the world to frustrate the negative propaganda campaign of the Zionist regime.”
Pointing to the propaganda campaign of the Western media on relations between Iran and Hamas, he said, “Strengthening the defense power is a legal right of all governments.”
On the Egyptian government’s cooperation with Israel, the MP said Cairo’s cooperation with Israel and its refusal to open the Rafah crossing is a “greatest betrayal”.
Israel faced a humiliating defeat in Gaza
Deputy Interior Minister for Social and Cultural Affairs Alireza Afshar insisted that Israel suffered a humiliating defeat in the Gaza Strip.
“The failure of the Zionist regime in Gaza is in fact its failure in face of the Palestinian nation and the resistance groups especially Hamas.”
Afshar added Israel “should have learned a lesson” from its 33-day war with Hezbollah.
“Israel did not learn a lesson from the 33-day war… and today we see that this regime (despite) having so many military facilities was not able to defeat the resistance groups.”
He made a reference to the Iran’s political measures during the conflict, saying, “Iran was able to involve the international, Arab and Islamic community in the Gaza issue.”