Islamic Republic's Letter to Mahmoud Abbas Regarding Meeting with Maryam Rajavi

The Palestinian news agency 'Ma'an' reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran has sent a letter to Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, regarding his meeting on Saturday with Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran. Salman al-Harfi, the Palestinian ambassador to France, announced this news to 'Ma'an', stating that he received the letter from the 'Iranian leadership' on Tuesday, August 2, and sent it to Mr. Abbas, who will respond 'soon'. Al-Harfi did not mention the details of the letter, but it seems that its contents are of a protest nature. Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the leader of the Fatah movement and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, received Maryam Rajavi in Paris on Saturday, August 9. Before the news of Iran's letter to Mr. Abbas was published, the Palestinian Fatah movement issued a statement on Tuesday from its press office in Ramallah, reacting to the remarks of Hossein Sheikh al-Islam, an advisor to the Iranian Foreign Minister. Fatah stated in this statement that it considers it its 'right' as a 'liberation movement' to communicate and consult with other movements around the world. Sheikh al-Islam had said on Sunday that documents obtained from the seized U.S. embassy in Tehran indicate that Mahmoud Abbas was a 'CIA agent' in the past. However, Fatah condemned the insult to Mr. Abbas as the 'elected leader of the Palestinian people', deeming it a 'red line' that Fatah 'will not allow anyone to cross'. Fatah reminded that this long-standing Palestinian movement 'hosted Iranian revolutionaries (during the Pahlavi regime) and supported Iranian revolutionaries with all its material, military, and financial resources, opening its doors to them, hoping that the government that comes to power in Iran would support the Palestinian cause... but saw nothing but betrayal from them'. Fatah noted Iran's support for Hamas, which is a rival of Fatah, stating that 'Iran stood alongside the coup plotters in Palestine...'. In addition to Hossein Sheikh al-Islam, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Director General of International Affairs of the Parliament and former Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, stated on Tuesday that Mahmoud Abbas's meeting with the 'outdated leader of the Mojahedin group' is a source of regret for the Palestinian people, and this approach 'will neither weaken the Zionist regime nor lead to the liberation of Al-Quds'. Furthermore, Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Council, wrote on his Instagram page on Tuesday regarding Mr. Abbas that 'we have not made a brotherhood pact with anyone; anyone who takes even the smallest step against the Iranian people, we will break their steps'. Meanwhile, Palestinian groups that are part of the 'Resistance Front', aligned with Iran, criticized the Abbas-Rajavi meeting in a joint statement on Tuesday, attributing it to 'Saudi pressure'. The statement from the coalition of these groups, which was reported by Fars, a news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, stated that 'Abbas's alignment with the Saudi axis certainly cannot be in line with the higher interests of Palestine, and given that we are witnessing Saudi rapprochement with the Zionist regime (Israel), the negative consequences of this action will be multiplied'. The 'Resistance Front' includes ten groups, the most prominent of which are the military wing of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The statement from the ten groups also noted that 'Iran's assistance to the Palestinian resistance has been greater than that of any Arab country', and Abbas's meeting with Rajavi represents 'a dagger in Palestinian-Iranian relations'. Spokespersons for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have also condemned the recent presence of Turki al-Faisal, a prominent Saudi prince, at last month's gathering of the People's Mujahedin of Iran in Paris.