Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday told the visiting political chief of Hamas to keep up the resistance against Israel, warning that abandoning the struggle would lead to disgrace.

"It is evident today that the Zionist regime is at its lowest ebb and is unable to resist the patient Palestinian people," Khamenei was quoted by state radio as telling Meshaal. "Thank God the Palestinian people have stood like a mountain despite the disaster. The only way to the liberation of Palestine is to resist faithfully. "The ones who choose a path that is not one of resistance will pay a price and be disgraced in the eyes of God," he added, according to AFP.

© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)