Hamas, the terrorist organization which  rules the Gaza Strip, is again courting Tehran and preparing to announce its support of the Iranian leadership and of the Syrian regime.

Diplomatic sources told the Al-Arab newspaper (Arabic link) that a Hamas delegation, which is currently visiting Tehran, wants to regain the trust of Iran’s leadership. Hamas lost Iranian  support in 2012 when it publicly expressed support for the Syrian people, and not Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who is propped up by Tehran. Hamas leaders were subsequently banished from their former headquarters in the Syrian capital. Hamas leaders had also expressed support of the Qatari-Turkish alliance that calls for the overthrow of the Assad regime.

The break with Iran cost Hamas dearly in financial and military support, and diplomatic sources revealed that the Hamas delegation in Tehran carries a mandate from the movement’s political bureau to provide all the necessary pledges of obedience to the Iranian leadership, particularly regarding an expected announcement of an explicit declaration of Hamas’s position towards the ongoing conflict in Syria and clearly confirming its support to Assad.

The delegation includes three members of Hamas’s Political Bureau: Mohamed Nasr, Sami Khater and Osama Hamdan. Hamdan is the representative of the movement in Lebanon and one of the architects of the reconciliation with Iran and Syria.

Hamas leaders recently tried wooing Tehran after both the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt in June 2013 and international pressure on Qatar to rescind its support for the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Palestinian affairs analysts believe that Iran will use this opportunity to strengthen its control of Hamas.  Reports indicate that the head of the political bureau of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, lives in Doha under a house arrest-like situation and his movements are limited. Meshaal  is apparently hoping that the Hamas delegation will succeed in setting a date for him to visit Tehran and give him the opportunity for him to relocate the Hamas political leadership.

Jonathan Schanzer and Grant Rumley reported yesterday that a Hamas leader with significant ties to Iran, Imad al-Alami, is now located in Turkey and speculated that he is working to re-establish Iran as a sponsor of Hamas.

[Photo: Lodgaard / Flickr]