Iran's Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Khamenei called here Tuesday on the Palestinians to continue their resistance against Israel, defining it the only way to guarantee the freedom and future of the Palestinian people.

Khamenei made the call in a meeting with Khalid Mash'al, head of the political bureau of Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), reported the official IRNA news agency.

"Given the present conditions, the Palestinian nation and resistance groups should maintain their vigilance and continue their Jihad (holy war)," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

The Iranian leader, meanwhile, owed Israel's withdrawal from settlements in Gaza Strip to the consistent resistance of the Palestinians.

"Achievements of the Palestinian nation over recent years, particularly expulsion of the Zionists from Gaza Strip, are owing to their resistance and Jihad against the Zionist regime," Khamenei said.

Israel withdrew from all of its 21 Gaza settlements and some of about 120 in the West Bank in August.

Earlier in the day, Iran's Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Larijani also met with Mash'al and said that the Palestinians' continuous resistance could ensure the restoration of their rights.

Larijani hailed the Hamas as "an active group determined to restore the rights of the Palestinian nation through democratic ways".

On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said that "resistance is the secret for embracing victory" for the Palestinians, adding Iran holds a sympathetic attitude towards the fight for independence of the Palestinians.

Recalling his comments in August that Israel should be wiped off, the Iranian president said last week that Israel should be moved from the Middle East to Europe, which incurred a new round of condemnation.

Source: Xinhua