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Tehran Strengthens Military and Economic Ties with Hamas
PA Militants Undergoing Training in Iran, Says Israel Intel Chief
In an exclusive, on-the-record interview with reporters on March 5, Israel's Shin Bet Intelligence Service Director Yuval Diskin, said Iran is providing Hamas with advanced military training.
"Hamas has started to dispatch people to Iran, tens and a promise of hundreds…" Diskin said. [1]Cooperation between Iran and Hamas dates back to the early 1990s, but their relationship strengthened significantly after Hamas was elected to lead the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) in January 2006.[timeline below]
On March 6, Hamas' Damascus-based political chief, Khaled Mashaal was in Tehran to discuss financial support for the Hamas-Fatah unity government and the current international monetary embargo on the P.A.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who advocates for Israel to be "wiped off the map," [2] encouraged Hamas to continue attacks against Israel. "The [Palestinian] government should use its brave and pious forces to continue resistance against the Zionist regime [Israel]," said Ahmadinejad, according to Iranian state-run television. [3]
TIMELINE OF HAMAS-IRAN TIES:
March 2007: During Khaled Mashaal's trip to Tehran, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki promises to continue transferring more funds to the Hamas government. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urges Mashaal to keep fighting Israel. [4]
Dec. 2006:On a visit by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to Tehran, the Iranian government pledges $250 million in aid to the Hamas-led government.[5] Israeli Intelligence reports that dozens of Hamas militants have traveled to Iran for advanced military. [6]
Feb.-Nov. 2006: In February Iran pledges to aid the new Hamas-led Palestinian government and by November claims they have already given $120 million. [7]
Jan. 2006: The same month Hamas came into power, the group's Syrian-based leader, Khaled Mashaal visits Iran. "Just as Islamic Iran defends the rights of the Palestinians," he says, "we defend the rights of Islamic Iran. We are part of a united front against the enemies of Islam." [8]
Feb. 2006: Farhat Assad, Hamas' spokesman in the West Bank, says Iran told Hamas' leader, Khaled Mashaal during that Iran was "prepared to cover the entire deficit in the Palestinian budget, and continuously." [9]
Dec. 2005: Hamas Political Chief Khaled Mashaal meets with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini in Tehran calling for "resistance as the only path to liberation in the region." [10]
June 2002: Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad leadership and others meet in Tehran for a conference sponsored by Iran to support the Palestinian uprising against Israel. [11]
March 1998: Relations between Hamas and Iran strengthen as a result of an official visit to Tehran by Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. [12]
Jan. 1995: In a testimony before the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, the outgoing director of central intelligence, James Woolsey said Iran provided more than $100 million to Hamas without giving a time period over which those funds were provided. [13]
Nov. 1994: Unconfirmed reports surface that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is training Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists in Lebanon and Sudan. [14]
Jan. 1994: A Lebanese magazine reports that Hamas will receive $10 million from Iranian oil revenue. [15]
Late 1993: Hamas opens an office in Tehran, visibly marking Iran's expanding involvement in the Palestinian uprising beyond Palestinian Islamic Jihad. [16]
Nov. 1993: The commander in chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps meets with Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus. [17]
Feb. 1993: Hamas leaders announce that they and Iran share an "identical view in the strategic outlook towards the Palestinian cause in its Islamic dimension." [18]
Oct. 1992: The Iranian foreign minister invites a Hamas delegation to Iran, led by Hamas leader Dr. Musa Abu Marzuk. Meetings are held with Ayotallah Rouhollah Khomeini. Unconfirmed reports claim that as a result of the meeting, Iran promised to give Hamas an annual $30 million subsidy and to provide the group with weapons and advanced military training at Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guards) facilities in Iran, Lebanon and Sudan. [19] After the meeting in Iran, then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat accuses Hamas of receiving money and training from Iran. [20]
Oct. 1991: Tehran sponsors an international conference to support the Islamic revolution of the people of Palestine. [21]
Dec. 1990: Hamas leaders invite by the Iranian government for the first known time on an official visit for a conference on the Palestinian uprising. [22]
After his recent meeting in Tehran, Mashaal also told reporters in a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki that Hamas will not recognize Israel and that,"Our [Hamas] stance remains the same as before the Mecca deal." [23] The Mecca deal reached in February brought Fatah and Hamas leaders together in Saudi Arabia to prevent more Palestinian infighting and negotiate a unity government.
Aid allocated for the Palestinians by different governmental bodies is incumbent on Hamas' adherence to three key conditions stipulated by The Quartet - U.S., European Union (E.U.), United Nations (U.N.) and Russia - which include: recognition of Israel, renouncing terror (including the return of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit) and honoring previous peace agreements. [24]
Hamas leaders hinted on Wednesday that if Israel helps lift the economic blockade then the militant group will adhere to a complete ceasefire, halting Qassam rocket fire and terrorist attacks. But Hamas warned that if sanctions continue, violence could escalate. [25]
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz voiced concerns in February that Hamas was exploiting the ceasefire to stockpile more weapons to strike against Israel. [26]
Iran continues to defy United Nations Security Council Resolutions and international demands to halt its nuclear production, procurement of nuclear technology that the Islamic Republic has offered to share with neighboring Islamic groups.
The militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is also closely connected to Iran. There is evidence of Iranian funding to PIJ since the late 1980s. Currently Iran is estimated to give $2 million to PIJ each year. [27] [Timeline of PIJ-Iran Ties]
"The Islamic Republic of Iran shares a basic outlook with Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Diskin said March 5. "All three believe in an Islamic state encompassing all the territory that was formerly British Palestine. All three oppose compromise with Israel…" [28]
Israel's internal security chief's comments confirm Iran's decades-long involvement in Palestinian affairs.
Footnotes:
[1] Erlanger, Steve, "Hamas gets training in Iran, Israeli official says," The New York Times, March 5, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/world/middleeast/05cnd-mideast.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin ; Boudreaux, Richard, "Israel intelligence chief: Iran training Hamas," Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2007, http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-hamas6mar06,1,3249562.story?coll=la-headlines-world
[2] Pryce-Jones, David, "A Particular Madness - Understanding Iran's Ahmadinejad," National Review, May 8, 2006.
[3] Daily Star Staff, "Abbas to meet Olmert before cabinet formed," The Daily Star, March 7, 2007, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=80230
[4] "Meshaal wins Iran cash vow," The Gulf Daily News, March 7, 2007, http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=172014&Sn=WORL&IssueID=29352
[5] El Deeb, Sarah "Haniyeh: Iran pledges $250M in aid," The Associated Press, http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=9475
[6] "Israeli intelligence warns Hamas gunmen being trained in Iran," The Associated Press, Dec. 12, 2006, http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/802528.html
[7] "Palestinian FM: Iran donated $120M to Hamas-led government," News Agencies, Nov. 16, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/789026.html
[8] "Iran Hails Hamas Victory," Al Jazeera News, January 28, 2006, http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=21223
[9] Al-Mughrabi, Nidal, "Hamas officials say Iran to fill funding void," Reuters, Feb. 28, 2006, http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5974
[10] "Iran's Supreme Leader urges Jihad in Middle East," Iran Focus News, Dec. 13, 2005, http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4857
[11] Muir, Jim, "Palestinian hard line meets in Iran," BBC News, June 2, 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2021727.stm
[12] Paz, Reuyen, "From Tehran to Beirut to Jerusalem: Iran and Hizballah in the Palestinian Uprising," The Washington Institute, March 26, 2001, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2004
[13] "Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1993," Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, U.S. Department of State, April 1994, pp. 45-46, 56, http://www.meforum.org/article/251
Horowitz, David with Ehud Ya'ari, "Can Hamas Blow Up the Peace Process?" The Jerusalem Report, [14] Nov. 17, 1994, http://www.meforum.org/article/251
Katzman, Kenneth and Clyde Mark, "Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Recent Developments, Sources of Support, and Implications for U.S. Policy," The Congressional Research Service, Dec 12, 1994, http://www.meforum.org/article/251
[15] Paz, Reuyen, "From Tehran to Beirut to Jerusalem: Iran and Hizballah in the Palestinian Uprising," The Washington Institute, March 26, 2001, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2004
[16] "Iranian Official Discusses Ways to Foil Peace Pact," Reuters, Nov. 17, 1993, http://www.meforum.org/article/251
[17] "Hamas Says It Sees Iran as Strategic Ally," Reuters, Feb. 28, 1993, http://www.meforum.org/article/251
[18] Rekhess, Elie, The Terrorist Connection - Iran, The Islamic Jihad And Hamas, Justice, Vol. 5 (May 1995), http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/950500.htm
[19] Al-Hayat (London), Dec. 17, 1992, http://www.meforum.org/article/251
[20] Rekhess, Elie, "The Terrorist Connection - Iran, The Islamic Jihad And Hamas," Justice, Vol. 5 (May 1995), http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/950500.htm
[21] Rekhess, Elie, The Terrorist Connection - Iran, The Islamic Jihad And Hamas, Justice, Vol. 5 (May 1995), http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/950500.htm
[22] Rekhess, Elie, The Terrorist Connection - Iran, The Islamic Jihad And Hamas, Justice, Vol. 5 (May 1995), http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/950500.htm
[23] Daily Star Staff, "Abbas to meet Olmert before cabinet formed," The Daily Star, March 7, 2007, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=80230
[24] "Statement by the Middle East Quartet," Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Feb. 2. 2007, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Reference+Documents/Statement+by+the+Middle +East+Quartet+2-Feb-2007.htm
[25] Issacharoff, Avi, and Aluf, Ben, "Hamas vows full truce if Israel help ends boycott," Haaretz, March 7, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/834090.html
[26] Issacharoff, Avi, and Harel, Amos, "Peretz: Hamas is using the Gaza ceasefire to stockpile weapons," Haaretz, Feb. 28, 2006, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/831396.html
[27] Palestinian Islamic Jihad Group Profile, http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=82
[28] "Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad: Recent Developments, Sources of Support, and Implications for U.S. Policy," The Congressional Research Service, December 12, 1994
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