AFP: Islamic Jihad chief Abdullah Ramadan Shala vowed in Tehran Saturday that his Palestinian militant group would stand by Iran in the event of any United States or Israeli military action. TEHRAN, April 15, 2006 (AFP) – Islamic Jihad chief Abdullah Ramadan Shala vowed in Tehran Saturday that his Palestinian militant group would stand by Iran in the event of any United States or Israeli military action.
“Any threat to the Islamic republic is a threat to the Palestinians, and Iran will not be alone in facing these threats. And any aggression against Iran is an aggression against the Palestinians,” he told state television.
The radical Islamic Palestinian group Hamas, which now heads the Palestinian Authority, as well as firebrand Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr have made similar pledges of support.
Shala’s comments were made on the second day of pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran, which Iran’s hardline leaders have used to fire off a barrage of vitriolic attacks against the United States and Israel.
The Islamic republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has also used the event to rally support from Islamic nations for the cash-strapped, Hamas-led Palestinian government.
The United States accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development.
Last weekend US news reports said President George W. Bush’s administration was refining plans for preventive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, something Bush has called “wild speculation.”
