TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki met Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) Secretary General Nayef Hawatmeh and his accompanying delegation here on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Mottaki said that the unity of all Palestinian groups is essential.

The Palestinian nation is at a historic turning point where their struggles have put the Zionist enemy in a situation from which there is no return, he added.

He went on to say that the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, made the intellectual unity between the Iranian and Palestinian nation eternal and observed that it is the heartfelt desire of all Muslims to see the victory of the Palestinians and the defeat of the Zionist aggressors.

Mottaki also stated that the fact that the Third International Conference on Al-Qods and Support for the Rights of the Palestinian Nation was held in Tehran at a time when Ariel Sharon had left the political stage provided a divine and historic opportunity.

Unity and resistance is the secret to victory of the innocent Palestinian nation, he added.

For his part, Hawatmeh thanked Iran for organizing the successful conference in support of the Palestinians and for the principled and brave stances of the Islamic Republic toward the Palestine issue.

The DFLP has offered over 3000 martyrs for the liberation of the homeland since 1968 and believes that armed resistance is the only way to confront the Zionist aggressors, Hawatmeh said.