Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Iran going to fund Hamas again?

The Arab paper A-Sharq Al-Awsat published in London reported that Tehran has agreed to renew its financial aid to Hamas.
 
According to the report, the decision comes after heads of Hamas met with Iranian officials in Lebanon, under mediation by leaders of the Hezbollah terror organization.
 
Relations between Iran and Hamas had deteriorated in 2011 with the outburst of the “Arab Spring” and within the backdrop of the Syrian civil war; since then, the larger part of Iranian financial aid for Hamas has gradually dwindled.
 
Only two months ago, senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk had said that Iran was not transferring financial aid to Hamas or the Gaza Strip, and that relations between Hamas and Tehran were frozen. Qatar remains a major funder of Hamas.
 
This most recent contact between the two sides was a difficult one as well, and Hamas did not agree to back Iran’s campaign against Saudi Arabia.
 
Saudi Arabia has been attacking Iran at every possible opportunity and criticizing its leaders. Saudi Arabia was also designated by the Trump administration as one of the “moderate” Arab countries with which relations were to be developed in order to bring about peace in the Middle East.