TEHRAN – A top member of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas has said that Iran’s belief in the importance of liberating al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the reason behind the letter by Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Speaking to Tasnim, Salah al-Brodil pointed to a recent decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to declare al-Quds as the Israeli regime’s capital, saying the reaction of some Arab and Muslim countries to the decision was “weak”.

“In such a situation, Hamas welcomes any power that is capable of making a free decision against the Zionist regime,” he was quoted by Tasnim as saying.

“…Haniyeh’s letter to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution is actually a search for those who believe that the liberation of al-Quds is a source of dignity for the Islamic Ummah (community),” he explained.

In his recent letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, Haniyeh praised the Iranian nation and leadership for supporting Palestine and the anti-Israeli resistance front.

Haniyeh pointed to a major plot that the hegemonic powers have hatched against al-Quds and the Palestinian nation with the purpose of wiping out the Gaza Strip as the bastion of resistance, ending the fight against the Zionist regime, and normalizing the relations between Israel and the dependent rulers of regional countries.

He also praised the Intifada (uprising) in the West Bank and the city of al-Quds as a phenomenon foiling the plots hatched by the U.S. and the “rulers of hypocrisy” who seek to terminate the issue of Palestine.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump officially declared al-Quds as the capital of Israel, despite warnings from around the world that the measure risks triggering a fresh wave of violence in the Middle East.

In a speech at the White House on December 6, Trump said his administration would also begin a years-long process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.

The announcement was a major shift by Washington that overturns decades of U.S. foreign policy.

Palestinian leaders had previously warned the move would threaten a two-state solution.

Israel has occupied East Quds since the 1967 Middle East war. It annexed the area in 1980 and sees it as its exclusive domain. Under international law, the area is considered to be occupied territory.