Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a televised speech in Tehran, Iran June 4, 2021. Photo: official handout via Reuters

i24 News – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Wednesday called the West Bank a “major battleground for Palestinian factions against Israel.”

Gaza’s Hamas and Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror groups have long tried to increase their foothold in the West Bank, and his statement could indicate growing Iranian support for that.

Khamenei’s remarks came a day after he met with PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah in Tehran, during which the Iranian supreme leader congratulated the terror group on its latest campaign against Israel. “The enemy’s (Israel) inaction today shows that the resistance factions know the right path.”

He continued to tell al-Nakhalah that “the strength and capability of the Palestinian resistance and Islamic Jihad factions are increasing day by day,” stressing the need to “continue on this path.”

Khamenei has in the past praised the terror group for military campaigns against Israel, including one last August and the latest flare-up of violence last month.