Iranian leadership expressed continued enmity towards Israel and support for Palestinian terrorism ahead of “Quds Day.” PHOTO: Wikipedia.

As negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program continued on Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry declared in a statement that “resistance,” a word often used as a euphemism for terrorism, is the only way for Palestinians to achieve statehood, Iran’s semi-official state news agency Fars reported.

In a statement released to the public ahead of the country’s annual “Quds Day,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said “Based on the guidelines of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Aytollah Ali Khamenei], the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that peace and tranquility will not be established in the Middle East region but by full restoration of the oppressed Palestinian people’s rights, and the Palestinian nation will continue its legitimate and legal fight to restore its rights.”

The Ministry went on to assert that the Palestinians wouldn’t be able to reach this goal without “confronting the Zionist regime’s aggression and expansionism.”

It encouraged the “empowerment of Palestinians to resist against such measures since resistance is the only way to restore their rights and free the Palestinian territories and the Holy Quds,” the Arabic name for Jerusalem, and called on Iranians to join demonstrations on Friday.

The Foreign Ministry was not alone in reiterating Iran’s enmity towards Israel. The ostensibly moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also made a statement on Wednesday, promising that the Iranian nation will “shout its hatred for the Zionist regime” during Friday’s rallies, Fars reported.

“People will tell the world on the Quds Day that the Muslim nations will never forget Palestine and the occupation of this territory,” Rouhani said, stressing that the Iranian nation “will shout its hatred for the Zionists on the Quds Day.”

Rouhani justified the animosity as rooted in the “massacre of innocent people by terrorists in the region, and their links with Israel,” reinforcing a position adopted by the Islamic Republic and Iranian-backed groups that Islamic State, the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, and other Sunni terrorist organizations in the region are operating at Israel’s behest.

On Tuesday, the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces also expressed support for Palestinian terror groups, saying “the Iranian nation will remain in the frontline of support for the Islamic resistance and freedom of Quds.”

The group also noted that the expected “massive participation” in “Quds Day” rallies will show “that the fake Israeli society is on the verge of its collapse,” and that the “revival of Palestine” is imminent.

Khader Habib, a senior leader in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group based in Gaza, praised Iran for its continued support for the Palestinian cause, saying that it played a significant role in countering the “occupation of Jerusalem.”

“Quds Day” is an annual event, initiated by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, and held on the last Friday of Ramadan. Its purpose is to express solidarity with the Palestinians and to oppose Zionism, Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, and the Jewish state’s very existence.