TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran's powerful Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called here Tuesday on all Muslim countries to support the struggle of the Palestinians for statehood, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    "All Muslim countries are duty-bound to support Palestine. On this basis, Iran considers support for the Palestinian people and objection to the violation of their rights as its Islamic task," Rafsanjani was quoted as saying at a meeting with Palestinian Ambassador to Tehran Salah Zawawi.

    Rafsanjani, the former president of Iran during 1989-1997, also voiced support for the defeat of Israel.

    "The history is now moving in favor of the Palestinian people. The process followed by the Palestinians and their resistance movement is correct and will lead to the defeat of the Zionist regime," he said.

    Iran holds a sympathetic attitude towards the fight for independence of the Palestinians.

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said earlier this month that Israel should be moved from the Middle East to Europe, arguing that the Palestinians should not pay the price for compensating the Jews. Enditem