TEHRAN – In a speech during the closing ceremony of the Third International Conference on Al-Qods and Support for the Rights of the Palestinian Nation, Iranian Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel said that the unconditional and limitless support provided to Israel by the U.S. and other Western states is a great strategic and historical mistake.

The U.S. has become a hostage in the hands of the Zionists, he added.

“They have turned the Zionists into a group of guiltless and innocent people and refer to anyone who criticizes Israel as guilty and as the axis of evil.”

Haddad-Adel noted that the Western world should resolve the Palestinian issue through justice.

“Peace will not be established in any other way. True peace is the fruit of a tree with roots of justice,” he observed.

Haddad-Adel stressed that freedom-seeking nations of the world, particularly Islamic governments, should not allow the Zionists’ allies to punish the Palestinians for voting in a democratic and free election.

“We should not allow Hamas, which is the symbol of the will of the Palestinian nation, to face failure through economic sanctions.”

Meanwhile, Iran is giving $50 million to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to fill gaps left by Western aid cuts, Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said on Sunday, Reuters reported.

The donation will help make up the shortfall left by the aid cut-off by the United States and the European Union and Israel's freezing of the transfer of about $50 million a month in tax and customs receipts to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government.

"I am honored to announce that Iran has donated $50 million to help the Palestinian nation," Mottaki said in a televised speech to the conference in Tehran on the Palestinian issue.

Mottaki said the gift was Iran's duty as a friend of the Palestinians, but did not say how or when it would reach them.

Washington and the European Union froze aid to the Hamas-led government because the Islamist group did not comply with their demand that it recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim peace agreements.

The Palestinian economy has been crippled during years of fighting with Israel, and Palestinians are dependent on foreign aid totaling more than $1 billion a year.

Mottaki called on Muslims around the world to support the Palestinians.

"The Islamic world should help the new Palestinian government to overcome its current problems," he said.

The Iranian Majlis speaker confirmed on Sunday that Tehran will help fund the Palestinian government.

"Iran, like other countries, has an obligation to help the Palestinians… any aid for any Islamic nation should be substantial," Hadad-Adel told reporters.

"This conference was successful," Hadad-Adel said.

"Our aim was to condemn the continued atrocities of the Zionist regime and also voice our support for the Palestinian people after their free elections, in which they chose Hamas."

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who was attending the conference, had said that Iran had yet to provide funds -- but Hadad-Adel signaled a transfer was only a question of hammering out details of a payment.

"It is natural that Hamas is expecting aid from us and others. But how much and how it will be paid is a specialized matter, and if they have not received anything yet from us it is because of this," he said.

Hamas, which took office on March 29, faces a financial crisis and a struggle to revive an economy suffering from widespread poverty and corruption and high unemployment.

The 22-member Arab League promised last month to maintain aid to the Palestinian Authority at around $55 million a month.