On Nov. 9, 2023, a month after Hamas invaded southern Israel and massacred over 1,200 Israeli civilians, the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei published a video including never-before-seen footage of a May 1998 meeting in Tehran between Khamenei and Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, who had arrived in Iran at the head of a Hamas delegation. Yassin was assassinated by Israel in 2004.
The following is a translation of the segments of the 1998 Khamenei-Yassin meeting from the video published by Khamenei’s official website:
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei:
“I believe that you, Mr. Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and these brothers and the brothers in Palestine are fighting on the frontline of the war between Islam and unbelief, and the war between truth and falsehood...
“We have not recognized and will not recognize the usurping [Israeli] government in the Palestinian lands and the country of Palestine for even a single hour. We oppose the Zionists, that usurping government, and that cancerous growth that they have planted in the Islamic lands, and we will fight it. We have no doubt about the future. What’s important is the plan of action, so that the time needed for this will be shortened as much as is possible...
“Of course, we are proud of you. We consider this Islamic movement to be a source of honor for Islam. I carefully listened to what you said, and I see all of it to be completely compatible with Islamic principles and the laws of Islam and the Koran. Without a doubt, this will be victorious. God’s promise is true when He says, ‘Allah will surely help those who help his cause—indeed, Allah is strong and mighty [Koran 22:40].”
Yassin:
“First of all, I am thankful to you for this good meeting and for these good hours where I have had the opportunity to be in the land of the Islamic Revolution... We need the support of everyone in all the Arab and Islamic lands for us to be able to strengthen the Islamic ranks and help the Palestinian people so that they can stand firmly and strongly in confronting the Zionist-U.S. aggressions, God willing...
“I am also thankful for the firm stance taken by the Leader and the people of Iran with regard to the Palestinian cause...
“We won’t relinquish even a bit or a handspan of the territory of our homeland. We will remain committed to Islam. We will continue to be fighters who either achieve victory or are martyred, God willing, so that Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the first qibla of the Muslims, are freed.”
