Hours after editor-in-chief of the hardliner Kayhan daily, Hossein Shariatmadari, encouraged the Iranian government to send arms to Hamas, Khaled Mashal entered Iran to - as reported by Kayhan - "present the report of the 22-day war" to the "leader of Muslims."
During the meeting with Khaled Mashal on Sunday, the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader told Mashal, after embracing him, that he does not regard the war as being over and warned that Israel may attack Gaza again. Ayatollah Khamenei also called for the prosecution of Israeli leaders and questioned the legitimacy and intentions of international organizations. He also referred to the Hamas victory as the first chapter of "Palestinian people's full liberation," adding, "The people of Gaza made us all proud."
An hour after the meeting, a Hamas spokesperson denied that the organization had accepted ceasefire with Israel. Meanwhile, responding to an Israeli aerial attack, two missiles were fired into Israel. Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv severely reacted to the missile firing and emphasized that their response would be "excessive."
Yesterday evening it became apparent that the meaning of "excessive" response is renewed Israeli aerial attacks against Gaza, which occurred exactly when Khaled Mashal was being honored at the Tehran Friday prayer gathering by Guardian Council chief Ahmad Jannati and Basiji students.
At the end of the ceremony, which was attended by large numbers of Basiji students and ended with Ahmad Jannati throwing a flower lei around Khaled Mashal's neck, the Palestinian leader pledged that Hamas would continue its fight until the full liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem, hoping for the crowds present at the ceremony to soon pray behind Ayatollah Khamenei in Jerusalem.
In a related reaction, in his meeting yesterday morning with Khaled Mashal, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for international sanctions and boycott of Israeli goods, noting, "Continued resistance until final victory over Israel and the realization of the Palestinian ideal is necessary."
On Saturday, during a gathering hosted by the Student Basij organization and attended by Lebanese and Palestinian former prisoners in Israeli prisons, the Supreme Leader's representative at the Kayhan Foundation, Hossein Shariatmadari, called on the Iranian regime to officially send weapons and arms to Hamas, hoping for "the taboo of opposition to arming the resistance to be broken."
