Iran's Zarif meets Islamic Jihad leader, pledges support for Palestinians

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claimed that supporting Palestine was a fundamental principle of the Islamic Republic's foreign policy, the Iranian news network Press TV reported on Saturday.Zarif met the Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement Ziad al-Nakhala in Tehran to strengthen ties with the group, emphasizing his support for the Palestinian people and their cause. "We hope that some Muslim countries that have pinned their hopes on support for the Zionists and the US will return to the Muslim world and realize that the Zionists are not a trustworthy friend or partner for anybody," Zarif said.Islamic Jihad has been labelled a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Israel and other countries, and has seen been backed with Iranian funds. With its main strongholds in Hebron and Jenin in the West Bank, its operations have included suicide bombings, attacks on Israeli civilians and rocket fire, including a bomb attack in Jerusalem that injured more than 100 people. Following Islamic Jihad rocket fire in Gaza into Israel in October, an IDF statement said that they launched rockets "under the encouragement of the terror-exporting Iranian regime," and that rocket fire was conducted with "clear guidance from Iran."