The chief of the political bureau of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas Ismail Haniyeh made the remarks Wednesday at the funeral ceremony of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and their companions who were martyred in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
In his address at the University of Tehran, Haniyeh said he has taken part in the funeral of the Iranian president on behalf of the Palestinian nation and Gaza.
Paying tribute to President Raeisi and his entourage, the Hamas chief said the late Iranian president believed that the Al-Aqsa Storm operation that the Palestinian Resistance forces carried out on October 7, 2023, had targeted “the heart of Israel”.
Referring to his meeting with President Raisi in the Islamic month of Ramadan, Haniyeh said the late president maintained that Palestine is the overriding issue of the Muslim world and that the Islamic Ummah should prepare the ground for the liberation of the Palestinian territories.
President Raisi also reaffirmed that the Islamic Republic of Iran would continue to support Palestine until the fulfillment of its goals, Haniyeh stated.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have martyred in a helicopter crash in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.
The helicopter carrying President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation crashed on Sunday in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azarbaijan Province.
It was transporting Raeisi, Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, Friday Prayers leader of the city of Tabriz Seyyed Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, and a member of the president’s bodyguard team Mahdi Mousavi. The helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot, and crew were also among others on board the chopper.
President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation were returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
Following the tragic martyrdom of Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei declared a 5-day mourning in Iran.
MP/6115465/TSN