The leader of terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which was also involved in the unprecedented attacks led by Hamas in Israel on October 7, has thanked Iran for its military support.
"It would not have been easy for the Palestinian people to achieve this blessed steadfastness in the battle for the al-Aqsa Flood [operation] without the unwavering, clear and continuous Iranian support in recent years, at all political, military ... levels," PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah said in Tehran on Saturday.
Palestinian extremist organization Hamas, which controlled the Gaza Strip, and other terror groups named the October 7 attacks on southern Israel Operation al-Aqsa Flood, a reference to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites in Islam
They killed some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, that day and abducted some 250 more to Gaza, sparking the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the coastal area.
Al-Nakhalah is currently in the Iranian capital for talks, at the same time as Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Besides top politicians, the two Islamist leaders also met Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Haniyeh, head of the Hamas politburo, is in Iran for talks for the second time since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Tehran is considered the most important supporter of PIJ and Hamas, which are classified as terrorist organizations by the European Union, the United States and Israel.
The PIJ is considered one of the most radical militant groups in the Middle East, with its members repeatedly firing rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip. However, they are seen as being less powerful than Hamas.
