Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi today called for “resistance forces” to unite against Israel during his trip to Syria, where he met with top officials of the Gaza-based Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror movements.

Among the “Palestinian resistance commanders” present on Raisi’s second day in Syria – the first such visit to Tehran’s close ally in over a decade of war – were PIJ leader Ziyad Nakhaleh and senior Hamas member Khalil al-Hayya.

“Today more than ever, the unity and cohesion of the resistance forces, the region, and the Islamic world is necessary to accelerate the defeat of the Zionist regime (Israel) and… the sovereignty of the Palestinians over their destiny,” Raisi was quoted as saying by his office.

Tehran has long provided logistical and military support to many factions fighting its arch-foe Israel, including Hamas, the PIJ, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes against Iran-backed forces in Syria since the civil war erupted in 2011, and while Jerusalem rarely comments on such raids, it has repeatedly warned that it would not allow Tehran to extend its footprint in its northern neighbor.

“We consider the collapse of the Zionist regime, whose effects are visible, to be very close,” Raisi continued, urging Muslims to “use all their capacities to achieve the violated rights of Palestine and the freedom of the holy Quds (Jerusalem).”

Raisi’s two-day visit to Syria came weeks after Iran and its arch-rival Saudi Arabia agreed to restore ties, prompting regional capitals to re-engage with the internationally isolated governments in Damascus and Tehran. –i24 News