Relations between Hamas and Iran have been a bit chilly over the last two years. Leaders from Hamas and Iran are attempting to normalize relations between the two governing powers following a steep decline.
Ali Larijani, Iranian Parliament spokesman, told Lebanese news outlet Al-Mayadeen that Iran’s relationship with Hamas have normalized. Larijani spoke out in support of Hamas as a “resistance organization” and that Iran and Hamas hope to work closely together in the future.
In January 2012, when Hamas decided to close its headquarters in Damascus, Iran regarded the move as insensitive towards Syrian President Bashar Assad, a close ally of the Islamic Republic. Since then, relations between Iran and the Palestinian organization have been almost non-existent.
In October 2013, Hamas admitted that Iranian funding have been severely reduced. Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk told Al-Mayadeen news:
“Iran used to be the most supportive state to Hamas in all aspects: money, arms and training. We don’t deny this. Our position on Syria affected relations with Iran. Its support for us never stopped, but the amounts [of money] were significantly reduced.”
Commenting on Larijani’s announcement in support of Hamas, Gaza based Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar the move of support was a long time in the making.
“The Hamas movement and Iran have taken special measures and we will see many changes in these relations soon,” Al-Zahar told Iran’s Fars News Agency.
The relationship between Iran and Hamas has been scrutinized recently with the interception of the Klos-C, an Iranian ship headed towards Gaza with concealed shipment of advanced weaponry.
Both the Islamic Republic and Hamas have denied all connection with the arms shipment. Al-Zahar denied the accusations once again, placing blame on Israel for concocting lies.
“The main goal of this scenario is creating a rift between Iran and the Palestinian resistance movement and exerting excessive pressure on the Hamas movement,” Al-Zahar said.
In related news, over 60 rockets were fired into Israel by terrorists in Gaza Wednesday night. Rocket fire continued into the day on Thursday. The terrorist organization Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Israeli Air Force retaliated to the rocket fire by striking 29 strategic bases of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
