A historic video circulating online shows the meeting between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Just days after Khomeini seized power in Iran in February 1979, Arafat became the first foreign leader to visit Tehran and congratulate the new Islamist regime on its victory.
During the visit, Arafat was warmly welcomed and publicly embraced by Khomeini. The symbolism was powerful: the new Islamic Republic was immediately aligning itself with the Palestinian struggle against Israel. Arafat even declared the now-famous slogan, “Today Iran, tomorrow Palestine,” expressing hope that the Iranian revolution would shift the balance of power in the Middle East against Israel.
As part of the gesture, Iran’s new leadership expelled Israeli diplomats and handed the former Israeli embassy building in Tehran to the Palestine Liberation Organization, turning it into the Palestinian mission.