Hamas leaders arrive in Tehran for talks on 'Palestinian issues'

Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhala met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran. The Islamic Jihad delegation met on June 14 with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who congratulated them on last month’s conflict with Israel.

The visits by the Hamas and PIJ leaders coincide with the first trip to Tehran by a Saudi official in more than seven years, with the arrival in Iran on Saturday of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

Prince Fasail met with his Iranian counterpart and other top officials in Tehran, including Raisi, who criticized Israel during his talks with the Saudi foreign minister.

“Only the enemies of Islam, led by the Zionist regime, are upset with the progress in bilateral and regional cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia,” said Raisi, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Raisi also voiced his opposition to normalization efforts between Arab countries and Israel.

“The Zionist regime is not only an enemy of the Palestinians, it is a threat to all Muslims. The normalization of relations with Israel not only fails to promote security but also goes against the opinions of the Islamic Ummah [community].”