The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said that resistance is the only way to save Palestine and that the al-Aqsa Mosque as well as every mosque in the world will remain the center of anti-Zionist resistance until Palestine is fully liberated.
Nasser Kan'ani made the remarks in a Persian-language post on his Twitter account on Sunday to commemorate the Global Day of Mosques which marks the 53rd anniversary of Israel’s burning of the al-Aqsa Mosque in an arson attack.
“53 years ago on this day, August 21, 1969, the Zionists set fire to al-Aqsa Mosque, the first Qiblah of Muslims, and this was not the first and last crime of the occupiers of Palestine,” Kan'ani wrote.
“Resistance is the sole way to save Palestine, and al-Aqsa Mosque and all mosques across the globe will remain the center of anti-Zionist resistance until the full liberation of Palestine.”
۵۳ سال پیش در چنین روزی21 آگوست سال 1969، صهیونیستها #مسجدالاقصی قبله گاه اول مسلمین را به آتش کشیدند و این اولین و آخرین جنایت اشغالگران #فلسطین نبود. #مقاومت تنها راه نجات فلسطین است و مسجدالاقصی و همه مساجد عالم تا آزادی کامل فلسطین، مرکز مقاومت ضدصهیونیستی باقی خواهند ماند. pic.twitter.com/ftxciNbHYb
— Nasser Kanaani (@IRIMFA_SPOX) August 20, 2022
Al-Aqsa Mosque was set on fire by an Australian settler named Dennis Michael Rohan in coordination with Israeli officials and military forces. The fire gutted the southeastern wing of the mosque in the occupied East al-Quds.
The arson attack was described as the beginning of an extended scheme of Judaization, displacement, and demolition practiced by the Zionist regime aimed at establishing its “temple” in place of the Holy Mosque.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound sits just above the Western Wall plaza and houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli regime occupied the West Bank, including East al-Quds, in a Western-backed war in 1967. Ever since it has been dotting the territory with hundreds of illegal settlements that house thousands of settlers.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.