Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network raises our voice to join those of the Palestinian, Arab and regional forces of the resistance in expressing condolences for and solidarity with the Iranian people and nation on the tragic passing of president Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and their companions in a helicopter crash on Sunday, 19 May 2024.
As our comrades in the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, said, “He also played a pioneering role in supporting all forces within the axis of resistance, including the Palestinian, Lebanese, Yemeni, Syrian, and Iraqi resistance institutions…We are confident that the Islamic Republic of Iran will transcend this enormous loss with its values, institutions and Constitution that will enable it to continue its humanist support of the oppressed and the struggling peoples for their freedom and true independence.”
Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, wrote, “We express our shared feelings of sorrow and pain with the brotherly Iranian people and our full solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran in this tragic incident and grave loss, which claimed the lives of a group of the finest Iranian leaders who had a remarkable journey in Iran’s renaissance and held honorable stances in supporting our Palestinian cause, backing our people’s legitimate struggle against the zionist entity, and their valued support for the Palestinian resistance. They made diligent efforts in solidarity and support in all forums and fields for our people in the steadfast Gaza Strip during the battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, and their intense political and diplomatic efforts to stop the zionist aggression against our Palestinian people.”
The Government Media Office in Gaza wrote, “The incident is considered a significant loss for the Palestinian people, the Islamic nation, and the resistance, which the late Iranian president and, behind him, the leadership, government, and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, have always supported.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement noted, “Their loss is also a great loss for the Palestinian people during these difficult times, as they played a prominent and clear role in supporting and backing the struggle and resistance of the Palestinian people, and in confronting the ongoing criminal zionist aggression.”
Hezbollah stated, “We have known…the martyred President closely for a long time; he was a big brother to us, a strong support, and a staunch defender of our causes and the causes of the nation, foremost among them Al-Quds and Palestine, and a protector of the resistance movements and their fighters in all the positions of responsibility he held… the dear martyred brother Dr. Hussein Amir Abdollahian…carried the flag in all political and diplomatic forums in the world and was a lover of resistance movements and dedicated to their support and advocacy.”
The AnsarAllah movement of Yemen said, “This is a loss not only for Iran, but also for the entire Islamic nation, Palestine and Gaza, which are waging a liberation battle and are in dire need of the presence of such a President who continued to defend the oppressed Palestinian people and their right to achieve their freedom and restore their land and rights.”
These statements were accompanied by those of fellow resistance forces in Palestine and throughout the region, all of which highlighted the role of Raisi, Amir-Abdollahian and the people and nation of Iran in consolidating the strong regional alliance of resistance which has been built over the past four decades, and in confronting the Zionist genocide and advancing the Palestinian resistance in the era of the Al-Aqsa Flood.
This resistance alliance, with the axis of resistance at the core, is collectively struggling for the liberation of Palestine, and the broader Arab-Iranian region from NATO-American-Zionist occupation, including the liberation of over 9,400 Palestinian prisoners held hostage by the Zionist regime. The Al-Aqsa Flood has, as one of its clear goals, the liberation of the prisoners alongside the breaking of the siege on Gaza, on the road to the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, and regional and international support for the Palestinian resistance is critical to achieving that liberation.
Within that context, we salute Pres. Raisi’s commitment to confronting and shattering the sanctions regime that the U.S. and its allies seek to impose on Iran – as it does on all nations that reject their dictates and hegemony – through building strong regional and international alliances, deepening alliances with countries confronting imperialism in Latin America, especially Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, and joining the BRICS. “Thank you for your hospitality, revolutionary brothers [Nicolas] Maduro, [Daniel] Ortega and [Miguel] Díaz Canel. Latin America and its people are one of the poles that inspire the world in the search for independence and justice and will play an irreplaceable role in the triumph over imperialism,” Raisi said after one such visit to Latin America, saluting the Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Cuban presidents.
This came hand in hand with a solid commitment to material as well as political and diplomatic support – a longtime, committed position of Iran – for the Palestinian resistance, to achieving a just peace and liberation for Yemen, and to confronting Zionism and imperialism everywhere in the region and internationally.
To all within the imperial core, it is particularly urgent to intensify campaigns to end sanctions, terror listings and criminalization of forces and nations that confront imperialism, and that the primary contradiction and our primary responsibility is to challenge the crimes of U.S. imperialism everywhere, as the resistance in the region is leading the world in doing today. It is clear that the people and nation of Iran will defeat all attempts by the Zionist regime and imperialist powers, led by the United States, to exploit this tragedy in order to undermine Iran’s sovereignty and self-determination, and will overcome this tragedy with its strong institutions, constitution and collective leadership, ensuring a smooth transition forward.
Imperialism and Zionism will be defeated, and the Arab and Iranian people – and the people of the world – will live free, in self-determination, independence and sovereignty, with the power and unity of the resistance.
