In a significant and provocative statement, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday during Haniyeh’s visit to Tehran. Haniyeh was attending the funeral of Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi, who tragically died in a helicopter crash.
During their meeting, Khamenei asserted, “The divine promise to eliminate the Zionist entity will be fulfilled and we will see the day when Palestine will rise from the river to the sea.” Haniyeh responded affirmatively, expressing hope that they would witness that day together.
Khamenei also commented on the growing support for Palestine seen in international protests, particularly in the United States and Japan. He noted, “Who would have believed that one day, slogans in support of Palestine would be raised in US universities and that the flag of Palestine would be raised there? Who would have believed that one day in Japan, demonstrations in support of Palestine would see the slogan ‘Death to Israel’ chanted in Persian?”
Haniyeh, representing Hamas, joined the funeral procession for Raisi alongside other notable figures, including the deputy leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, and representatives of Yemen’s Houthi rebels. These groups, like Hamas, receive significant backing from Iran.
During the funeral, Haniyeh addressed the crowd, saying, “I am here on behalf of the Palestinian people, in the name of the resistance factions of Gaza… to express our condolences.” The crowd responded with chants of “Death to Israel.” Haniyeh reiterated his confidence in Iran’s continued support for the Palestinian people.
Additionally, Haniyeh participated in prayers led by Khamenei over the coffins of Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and six others who perished in the crash. Reflecting on a past conversation with Raisi, Haniyeh recalled the late president describing Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel as an “earthquake in the heart of the Zionist entity.”
Iran, which does not recognize Israel and whose leaders have frequently called for its destruction, has been a vocal supporter of Hamas. Following the attack, Khamenei declared that Israel “cannot recover from the defeat of October 7.”