The father of a 13-year-old Iranian boy being treated in Tel Aviv for advanced brain cancer has nothing but words of love and admiration for his Jewish benefactors, and insists that most Iranians, like him, do not hate Israel.

The boy was given a special visa to enter Israel late last week and immediately underwent emergency brain surgery at Tel Aviv's Tel Hashomer Medical Center. The boy's Israeli doctors continue to fight for his life, though his condition does not carry a promising prognosis.

Meanwhile, the boy's father told Ynet that he "can't thank the Jewish people enough for all the love and support we've been getting."

He asked all Israelis to be praying for his son's recovery, and said that it was important to him for the nation's Jews to "know that the majority of Iranians don't hate Israel."

Israel had close relations with Iran prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.