TEHRAN -- Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement of Palestine (IJMP), Dr. Ramedhan Abdullah, praised the principled stance of the Islamic Republic of Iran on defending the cause of the Palestinians and the Iranian officials' call for liberating the Holy Quds. Speaking in a meeting with the Head of the Islamic Culture and Communications Organization (ICCO) Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Taskhiri, he further described as `courageous' the meeting between President Khatami and the Palestinian leaders in Damascus. He termed the recent propaganda campaign by certain media and the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic a vindictive act motivated by fair stances of Iran on Palestine and the Holy Quds. The secretary-general of the IJMP further noted that the people of Palestine feel indebted to late Imam Khomeini and are grateful to the Islamic Republic for its call for liberating the Holy Quds. Ayatollah Taskhiri, for his part, said that the Iranian foreign policy is based on three principles of wisdom, dignity and expediency, and that Iran's stance on the Palestinian issue is within the framework of these principles.

He noted that the Iranian officials are determined to follow the late Imam's guidelines on the issue of Palestine and the Holy Quds. According to the Public Relations Office of the ICCO, during the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on some issues related to the occupied territories, the region and the Islamic World. They also underlined the need for the expansion of cultural cooperation and information transmission.