Pezeshkian Emphasizes 'Comprehensive Support' for Hamas in Letter to Haniyeh

Masoud Pezeshkian, the elected president of Iran, continued to send messages focused on advancing the regional policy of the Islamic Republic by writing a letter to Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the extremist group Hamas. In Pezeshkian's letter to Haniyeh, which is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union, he reiterated the Islamic Republic's 'comprehensive support' for the groups that the Islamic Republic refers to as 'resistance groups.' In the letter, while thanking Haniyeh for his congratulatory message, Pezeshkian stated that the Islamic Republic would continue its 'comprehensive support' until the capture of Jerusalem, which he described as the 'liberation of Quds Sharif.' Two days prior, Pezeshkian had also emphasized continued support for these proxy groups of the Islamic Republic in a message to the Secretary-General of Hezbollah in Lebanon. This message was welcomed and appreciated by conservatives, including Hossein Shariatmadari, representative of Ali Khamenei at the Kayhan Institute. Since Masoud Pezeshkian's election as president, the issue of continuing support for the Islamic Republic's proxy groups in the region has been emphasized; this emphasis comes amid criticisms from opponents of the government regarding the Islamic Republic's regional interventions, and within the country, the slogan 'Not Gaza, Not Lebanon, My Life for Iran' has been heard at most of the protest gatherings in recent years. Earlier, Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, had emphasized that the change of president in Iran does not mean a change in Iran's support for Hezbollah and other Iranian-supported groups in the region. He also congratulated Pezeshkian on his victory in the Iranian elections, appreciating that he 'affirmed the foundations of Iran's support for resistance.' The exchange of messages between the elected president of Iran and the leaders of the Islamic Republic's proxy groups in the region comes at a time when, following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 6 of last year, which initiated a large-scale military assault by Israel on the Gaza Strip, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah along the borders of the two countries has continued almost uninterrupted for about nine months. Although initial international reactions to Hamas's attack on Israeli territory emphasized Israel's right to defend itself, the continuation of Israeli operations in Gaza and the actions of the Israeli army have drawn criticism in the international community and significantly increased the level of tensions in the region.