Upcoming Visit of a Hamas Delegation to Iran

Arabic media report on the imminent visit of a delegation from the Palestinian movement Hamas to Iran. The Lebanese newspaper As-Safir wrote on Friday, September 2, that the Hamas delegation is prepared for this trip, and at Iran's request, Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of its members, will be part of it. Mahmoud al-Zahar, a former foreign minister of the Hamas government, resides in Gaza. According to As-Safir, Hamas has been waiting for the opening of the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt to send the delegation. The Egyptian government announced that it would open the Rafah border on Saturday, September 3, after being closed for two months. This border was temporarily opened last week for three days only for Palestinian pilgrims heading to Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Mahmoud al-Zahar, who according to As-Safir, the Islamic Republic of Iran has emphasized for his trip to Iran, is one of the figures supporting the view of closeness to the Islamic Republic among Hamas leaders. Meanwhile, Iranian media also reported that Mohammad Majidi, the first secretary of the Iranian embassy in Lebanon, met and discussed with Ali Barakeh, a representative of Hamas in Lebanon, on Friday. After the meeting with this Iranian diplomat, Ali Barakeh told reporters, "To support the Intifada and resistance of Palestine, it is essential that friendly relations with Iran continue." Khaled Qudumi, Hamas's representative in Iran, also stated in an interview with Tehran media last week that "the relationship between Hamas and Iran is strong and strategic." The strong relations between Hamas and Iran cooled down at the beginning of the Syrian civil war. Hamas, unlike Hezbollah in Lebanon, rejected calls to side with Bashar al-Assad's government, and Syria effectively expelled Hamas leaders by sealing their offices. Hamas, which emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood, still supports some opposition groups in the Syrian war against Bashar al-Assad's government. On the other hand, in recent weeks, as more reports emerged about Saudi Arabia's rapprochement with Israel, Hamas leaders criticized this and deemed it detrimental to the interests of the Islamic world and Arabs. Mousa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, last Thursday during a visit to Algeria, called on Islamic and Arab countries to cut their "open and hidden" relations with Israel. In this context, Khosrow Arouj, one of the advisors to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, criticized Hamas two months ago in an interview with Mehr News Agency, saying, "We thought Hamas raised the banner of struggle against Israel, but it is reconciling with Israel." However, the IRGC issued a statement regarding Khosrow Arouj's remarks, emphasizing that these comments were "personal and unofficial" and that "there is no doubt that the Islamic resistance movement Hamas is at the forefront of the resistance and anti-Zionist struggle of the Palestinian people." Hamas, whose several key figures have been residing in Doha, Qatar since the beginning of the Syrian war, has also drawn closer to Saudi Arabia in recent years, and the King of Saudi Arabia met with Khaled Mashal, the head of Hamas's political bureau. Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have deteriorated severely in the past year, and for the past nine months, relations between Riyadh and Tehran have been completely severed, with a full-scale verbal war continuing between Saudi and Iranian leaders. On the other hand, Hamas has always emphasized that it uses its relations with all countries and factors solely to advance the goals of the Palestinians. The last visit of a Hamas delegation to Iran was a low-level group for a private meeting to express condolences for the death of the mother of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force. However, in recent times, the Islamic Republic has invited Ramadan Abdullah Shalah, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to Tehran several times, and he has met with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader and commander-in-chief of Iran. During the cold years of relations between Iran and Hamas, the emergence of a new movement among Palestinians in Gaza called "Al-Sabirin," some of whose leaders have converted to Shia Islam, has also been attributed to Iran. The leaders of "Al-Sabirin" confirm these connections; the logo of Al-Sabirin bears a striking resemblance to the emblem of the IRGC and Hezbollah in Lebanon. In this context, Israel has banned the activities of the Palestinian organization due to its relationship with Iran. A Hamas spokesperson stated: "Our relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are unbreakable." The General Staff of the Armed Forces stated: "We will continue to meet the military needs of the resistance front." Netanyahu's dialogue with Putin regarding the "revival of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations" is also noteworthy.