TEHRAN: The Hamas-led government in Palestine will never recognize Israel, asserted prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, and it will continue to fight for the liberation of Jerusalem.
Addressing thousands of Friday prayer participants at Tehran University, Haniyeh said no pressure can subdue Palestinians to recognize the usurper Zionist government and the Palestinians will continue its jihad-like movement for the liberation of Jerusalem.
Haniyeh is in Iran since Thursday on a four-day official visit.
He said Israel's aggressive tactics have gone up since his Hamas government had come to power in March.
He told the worshippers his government will never recognize the occupier of the Palestinian lands and will continue the resistance until Jerusalem is liberated and the displaced Palestinians are able to return to their homeland.
"They think that the Palestinian nation is alone in this war, but they are hallucinating ... We have a strategic depth here in the Islamic Republic of Iran and throughout the Islamic-Arabic world," he said.
Iran does not recognize Israel and has helped the Palestinian Authority with some $120 million following Western financial blockade on the Hamas-led government.
Hamas is under pressure from the western nations and the moderate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to recognize Israel, give up violence and accept the interim peace proposals. This would have helped the country to get the blockade lifted.
Iranian leader Ahmad Chatom said Iran will continue to support the Hamas government.
Haniyeh is expected to hold talks with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and meet the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
