Analysts have begun to unpack the implication of reports – published in Arabic and Israeli news outlets earlier this month – to the effect that Hamas has rebuilt ties with Iran and with Tehran’s Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah. The reports detailed meetings which took place at Iran’s Beirut embassy and which included top Hamas officials.

Ali Hashem, the Al-Mayadeen news network’s chief correspondent, last week published additional context:

One month ago, I asked an Iranian diplomat in Beirut about relations with Hamas and whether there is any chance things will return to normal. “The door was never closed,” he told me. “Their bureau in Tehran is still functioning, and we still have contacts with them, it’s them who decided to downgrade relations, not us.”… Back in Tehran, on the day of Hassan Rouhani’s inauguration, the president welcomed the old resistance triad, Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. “The president wanted to send a clear message to Hamas that they are welcome,” said a source here in Tehran. “There were contacts during the past months to revive the relations, but after the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt things became serious and Hamas showed much interest in healing the wounds, so meetings became very fruitful, and they were mainly in Beirut.”

Another Hashem source emphasized that as long as Hamas remains on the same page as Tehran regarding the eradication of Israel, “we don’t mind them having different views on any issue.”

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