Profile: Salah al-Zawawi – Veteran Palestinian diplomat, freedom fighter

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

"Our war is not only with this Zionist enemy. We are fighting a 100-year-old Western enterprise, which is ongoing," the former Palestinian ambassador to Tehran, Salah al-Zawawi, said in a February 2017 interview with Lebanon's Al-Manar TV. 

He said the "enterprise" does not merely target a part of Palestine, but Palestine "in its entirety", adding that the illegitimate entity's goal is establishing the so-called "Greater Israel" that would occupy and dominate "disintegrated Arab and Islamic world". 

"This way, our enemy along with its defenders and masters, would complete its plan to turn us into servants, if not slaves, in this region, and to plunder our resources." 

Zawawi, a seasoned Palestinian diplomat and an intrepid campaigner for Palestine's liberation from the Zionist occupation passed away in Tehran on Monday after a prolonged illness, aged 85.

In a communique, the Palestinian embassy in the Iranian capital said the former envoy passed away at a hospital "due to illness". 

Zawawi served as the Palestinian ambassador to Tehran for 42 years (1980-2022) and retired in February last year due to failing health. 

He was the second Palestinian envoy to Iran after the revolution, succeeding Hani al-Hassan.

One of the founder members of the Palestinian Fatah resistance movement, Zawawi was the longest-serving foreign diplomat in the Islamic Republic of Iran after the 1979 revolution, which earned him the title of 'Moghaddam al-Safra', meaning the 'senior-most foreign diplomat'. 

Interview with Palestinian Ambassador to Iran Salah Zawawi

This episode of face to face is an interview with Salah Zawawi, Palestinian Ambassador to Iran about the Palestinian victory against the recent Israeli assault.

Before Iran, he also served as the Palestinian ambassador to Algiers, Brazil and Kenya.

His daughter, Salam Al-Zawawi replaced him as the new Palestinian ambassador to Iran in February last year, submitting her credentials to President Ebrahim Raisi nearly a month after her formal appointment. 

During their meeting, President Raeisi reaffirmed Iran's support for the Palestinian cause, describing the liberation of Jerusalem al-Quds as a "top priority for the Muslim world". 

Zawawi, who commanded great respect from both Iranian officials and foreign diplomats in Iran, was accorded a fitting farewell by Iran's foreign ministry after his superannuation on February 28 last year. 

Speaking at the event, in the presence of Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the veteran diplomat said the goal is clear — "establishing a Palestinian state from the river to the sea and accepting nothing less than that". 

“Israel is a cancerous tumor and needs to be removed from the sacred land of Palestine," he was quoted as saying during the event, which was attended by many foreign emissaries stationed in Iran. 

Palestine's ambassador to Iran retires after four decades

After four decades serving as the Palestinian ambassador to Iran, Salah al-Zawawi, has retired during a ceremony in Tehran attended by representatives from Iranian and Palestinian activists.

“I have been in Iran for 42 years and observed the great work of [the late founder of the Islamic Republic] Imam Khomeini and the Iranian people. This great man exploded a major bomb in the world that was more powerful than all nuclear bombs of the world combined. He united the nation."

The seasoned envoy deeply valued Iran’s unwavering and constant support of the Palestinian resistance, bringing it up in his speeches often, both in and outside Iran.

In a speech delivered in March 2018 at an event in Tehran, he said the formation of the Axis of Islamic Resistance by Imam Khomeini had proved pivotal in foiling attempts by Westerners to establish a "fake regime" in the occupied territories.

He also lauded the “wise leadership” of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatullah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and his unflinching support for the resistance factions in Palestine.

In his message of condolence on Monday, Amir-Abdollahian said Zawawi "always fought to safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people, keep alive the Palestinian cause and defend the holy Al-Quds". 

"I hope that soon we witness the fruition of several decades of effort and struggle of the resistant people of Palestine, including the late Salah al-Zawawi, with the complete liberation of this holy land from the clutches of the Zionist occupation and the formation of an independent and unified Palestinian state to be the capital of Holy Quds in the entire historical land of Palestine," read the message. 

Since the 1979 revolution and overthrow of the West-backed Pahlavi monarchy, Iran has vociferously championed the cause of Palestine and maintained close ties with Palestinian resistance groups, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. 

It also handed over the keys of the former Israeli embassy in Tehran to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1979, which has ever since served as the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Iran. 

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