Ali Shamkhani
Ali ShamkhaniReuters

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, on Sunday met with senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar and a delegation of Hamas leaders.

During the meeting, Shmkhani predicted that widespread corruption will annihilate the “Zionist regime” of Israel, reported The Tehran Times.

“What will annihilate the Zionist regime is internal and widespread corruption of its heads and the nations’ awareness of this child-killer regime’s plots and cruelty against the humanity,” said Shamkhani, according to the report.

Shamkhani also praised Palestinians’ resistance against Israel.

“Today, supporters of Palestine across the world believe that the only way to succeed and uphold the rights of people [in Palestine] is relying on domestic will and Islamic resistance,” Shamkhani said.

He noted that the “Palestine cause” and liberation of Al-Quds are the most important priorities of the Islamic world.

“Any action that causes deviation on the path of fighting the Zionist regime, as the main threat to the world of Islam, is a betrayal of the Muslims,” he added, according to The Tehran Times.

For his part, Zahar said the “illegitimate” regime of Israel is on the wane and condemned any move that leads to recognition of Israel.

Hamas and Iran enjoy a close relationship, but the sides were at odds for several years, beginning when Hamas refused to support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, a close ally of Iran's, in the uprising against him. An angry Iran then reportedly stopped supplying the terror group with weapons.

The tide seemed to turn in the summer of 2017, when Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked Iran for its "unlimited" support for the Al-Qassam Brigades and its contribution to the development of Hamas's military capabilities.

In October of that year, deputy Hamas leader Salah al-Aruri, a sanctioned terrorist, led a delegation to Iran, where he stressed that the group and Iran have agreed to set aside their past differences.