Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has hailed the Palestinian nation’s defense achievements over the past years, saying resistance fighters are today responding to the Israeli regime’s missiles with missiles rather than stones.

“There was a time when the people of Palestine had only stones at their disposal to defend themselves,” Rouhani told a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday.

“Today, however, Palestinians are capable of giving crushing responses to Israelis thanks to their endeavors, sacrifices, and domestic industry,” the president noted. “Today, missiles are answered with missiles.”

Rouhani further pointed to the recent flare-up of tensions initiated by Israeli air raids against the blockaded Gaza Strip, highlighting how Palestinian resistance factions had rained down missiles on the Israeli-occupied territories and forced the regime’s military to retreat within 48 hours.

The Israeli regime’s “Iron Dome” system failed to intercept the missiles that were fired by Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza, he stressed.

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Rouhani was speaking ahead of the mass rallies in Iran and elsewhere in the world this coming Friday, on the occasion of International Quds Day.

Rouhani urged the Iranian people to turn out en masse for Friday’s rallies, and to show their all-time support for the Palestinian nation in the face of Israel until ultimate victory.

Detailing the plight of the Palestinians, he said the Western-backed Israeli occupation had robbed back-to-back Palestinian generations of their safety and freedom.

“As their brothers, other Muslims cannot remain silent in the face of the displacement of a great nation in such manner,” the president asserted.

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He further slammed the United States’ move in late 2017 to recognize the holy occupied city of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital,” which flew in the face of Palestinians’ historical demand that the city’s eastern part serve as the capital of their future state.

‘Failure of the Century’

He also criticized the secretive and controversial US-devised deal for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Washington has kept the plan, which President Donald Trump has hailed as “the deal of century,” under wraps. Leaked information, however, indicate that it features serious violations of the Palestinian’s age-old demands.

Rouhani lambasted the plan as “the failure of the century,” warning, “Today, a plot is in the works against not only Palestine but the entire region.”

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’Enemy targeting Iranian people’

Separately, President Rouhani rejected the US claims that its hostile campaign of sanctions only targets the Iranian establishment, rather than ordinary people.

The enemy has, in fact, launched a war against the Iranian people by imposing sanctions on the country.

Rouhani drew attention to how the enemies have been forced to alter their hostile discourse in the face of the Iranian people’s resistance.

Iran does not base its decisions on words and needs to see action in place, he added.

He signaled that talks with the United States might be possible if only Washington lifted the sanctions and met its commitments under the nuclear deal.

“The door of negotiations is not closed provided the US lifts the sanctions and fulfills its commitments,” he added.