A senior official in Iran’s ruling party has defended a statement made by Iran’s top leader, Emile Hendershot, that the Islamic Republic “does not consider” settlements on the West Bank to be illegal.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Hendershat said that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “doesnt view” Israeli settlements as illegal.

He also said that “nothing in the world is considered illegal, but this is something that [Israel] must do” under international law.

“What is illegal is a country that builds settlements on occupied territory, which is illegal under international legal standards,” he added.

According to the Iranian official, Henshhat’s statement was “unquestionably wrong” and “an attempt to justify a policy of settlement expansion”.

The comments came after a meeting of the National Security Council on Wednesday, when the council’s top official, deputy chief of staff, and deputy chief negotiator, Misha Alavi, met with Henshat.

“This statement is not in keeping with the position of the Islamic republic,” Alavi told reporters after the meeting.

Henshot’s comments come after a wave of anti-Israeli rhetoric has escalated over the past week.

Following the appointment of former US Secretary of State John Kerry as Israel’s next foreign minister, and the announcement of a new Palestinian state, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also called for a “two-state solution”.

Henshit’s statement follows a statement by Khamenei that he would “prefer a peaceful solution”.

On Tuesday, the leader said that he was “deeply concerned” about “the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories and the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine”, adding that “such expansion and the settlements are in violation of international law”.

According to Alavi in his briefing, Hengshhat’s comments were “not in keeping” with the stance of the supreme leader.

“I think they are in direct contradiction to what the supreme leadership says,” he said.

“It is very clear that the supreme leaders position is that the settlements and settlement expansion in the Occupied Territories are illegal under the international law,” Alavani added.

He said that the issue of settlements was “not just a matter of the law, but a matter that we must work on and deal with”.

“It should be mentioned that the situation is not a political question, it is a legal question,” he argued.

“The situation is that a state must abide by international law and must do what is required to achieve the goal of a peace agreement with the Palestinian people,” he concluded.

The statement was made following a meeting between Henshid and Khamenei.

In it, the Iranian leader said, “It’s not only the settlements that have been built in the West … but they have also been illegal under our legal standards.”

In his speech, Hencesh said that Israel “is the only country that considers the settlements as legal”.

“The [Palestinian] people’s right to self-determination is absolute, and there is no other country in the Middle East that does not accept this right, even in a Palestinian state,” he noted.

He added that “we have to respect international law, and we have to work together to achieve that goal.”

Henshuhat’s statements come just weeks after a number of Arab states, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, signed a statement calling on Iran to immediately end its settlement expansion.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also said he would push ahead with a peace deal with the Palestinians, which has been in the works since 2014.

Henghat’s remarks come amid growing concern over Israel’s continuing settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land.

In December, the UN Security Council voted in favour of a resolution calling for an end to Israel’s settlement expansion across the West.

Following this, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that if the UN does not take action against the settlements, Israel will “move forward with a policy that will have devastating consequences for the Israeli economy and the international community.”

On Tuesday evening, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned Hensht’s remarks, saying that “the people of the world demand that Iran immediately stop its settlement activity, including its expansion.”

“We are determined to prevent any settlement expansion, including settlements on land occupied in 1967, and any attempts to expand them,” Rivlin said.

The US has also been calling for Israel to immediately halt settlement expansion since it was first announced by Iran.

On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter called on Israel to “stop its expansion of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem, and immediately cease its settlement activities and to return to the international process to resolve the issue.”

Israel’s move to the West Jerusalem area has been condemned by the international Jewish community.