For Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the defence of Palestine was never a circumstantial matter of foreign policy. Rather, it constituted the enduring axis of his political, diplomatic and strategic vision throughout nearly four decades as Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Palestinian cause has ceased to be merely a regional issue, becoming instead one of the founding principles of the Iranian state. Under Khamenei’s leadership, this commitment was deepened and consolidated as an expression of the struggle against colonialism, occupation and foreign hegemony in the Middle East.

In Khamenei’s view, Palestine represented the greatest contemporary injustice inflicted upon a people deprived of their land, sovereignty and right to self-determination.

For this reason, he consistently rejected initiatives that reduced the Palestinian question to limited negotiations or agreements sponsored by Western powers, arguing that no settlement could be considered legitimate if it preserved the occupation, denied Palestinian refugees their right of return, or continued to deny the Palestinian people’s national rights.

For him, the liberation of Palestine was a matter of historical justice and international law—not a diplomatic concession.

This position continued the legacy of Imam Ruhollah........

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