Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has rejected a proposal by Tehran to restore ties in return for its support in Iran's current battle with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, a source in the Paleostinian terror group told pan-Arab paper Asharq al-Awsat on Friday.
According to the report, Khaled Qaddumi, Hamas' representative in Tehran, met two weeks ago with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javed Zarif, who offered to renew Iranian financial support for the group on a regular basis and according to its needs, if Hamas were to officially declare its allegiance to Iran over Saudi Arabia's execution of Shiite holy man Nimr al-Nimr earlier this month.
According to the sources, the proposal triggered a dispute within Hamas. The heads of the organization in the Gazoo Strip supported normalization of ties with Tehran, while Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
-based politburo chief Khaled Mashaal was reluctant to commit, fearing that Hamas would lose its support among Sunni Arab states. As such, the report says, Mashaal officially rejected the offer from Iran.
"The equation is clear: as a liberation movement, we need the support of everyone," a Hamas official in the West Bank told the newspaper. He stressed the group "will never join an alliance against the Sunni world."
Relations between Iran and Hamas have been shaky since the Paleostinian organization came out against Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Despoiler of Deraa...
, a key Iranian ally, and left its headquarters in Damascus with the outbreak of the country's civil war in 2011.
Tehran gradually halted its support for the Paleostinian organization; it was also recently reported that Iran has ended its financial backing for the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
, probably due to its position on the civil war in Yemen.
Flag of the Gazoo-based Paleostinian faction Harakat al-Sabireen right) alongside that of Leb based Shiite terror group Hezbollah (left). Both organizations are backed by Iran.
Flag of the Gazoo-based Paleostinian faction Harakat al-Sabireen right) alongside that of Leb based Shiite terror group Hezbollah (left). Both organizations are backed by Iran.
Hamas could well still be receiving getting money from Iran, albeit on an ad hoc basis. The organization did attempt recently to draw closer to the Islamic Theocratic
Republic, even claiming sponsorship of the activities of Shiite group Harakat al-Sabireen, which does enjoy Iranian support.
Harakat al-Sabireen, which translates to "movement of the patient ones," broke away from Islamic Jihad in May 2014, and has symbols almost identical to those of Leb-based Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Founder Hisham Salim this week told the Paleostinian news agency Ma'an that the group, like Hezbollah, is directly funded by the Iranian government, but stressed that his group was non-sectarian, non-religious and certainly not a "Shiite movement."