Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the recognized leader of Iran, hosted Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal Tuesday and encouraged the terrorist organization to continue to fight for the liberation of Palestine." The Ayatollah is the supreme leader in Iran, superior to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mashaal arrived in Iran less than a week after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syrian President Bashar Assad announced separately that they are holding indirect talks through Turkish mediators. Assad has repeatedly stated that peace with Israel is contingent on his receiving the entire Golan Heights, which was restored to Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967 and later was officially annexed to the rest of the country.The Prime Minister previously has said that he would not conduct talks with Syria until it makes a break from supporting terrorism.

Mashaal's visit to Iran prompted the Ayatollah to state, "It is evident today that the Zionist regime is at its lowest ebb and is unable to resist the patient Palestinian people…. The Palestinian people have stood like a mountain despite the disaster. The only way to the liberation of Palestine is to resist faithfully."