JERUSALEM, Israel -- For Hamas, the nuclear arms
deal with Iran portends financial and political windf
alls it believes
will strengthen its standing among other Iranian ter
ror groups, such as
Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Anticipating the benefits of the deal, Hamas sent
Musa Abu Marzouk to Lebanon last week to meet with Hezbollah general
secretary and spiritual leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Salah al-Bardawil said
the recent visit of political chief Khaled Meshaal to Saudi Arabia
didn't affect its deep ties with Iran.
Hamas will maintain relations with all those who
financially, militarily, and spiritually support the movement, Bardawil
said, Iran's semi-official FARS news agency reported.
"The visit of a delegation from this movement,
including Khaled Meshaal, to Saudi Arabia and improvement of
Hamas-Riyadh relations will not influence our ties with Tehran," he
said, echoing statements by Gaza chief Ismail Haniyeh.
'Close and Intimate'
In March, Haniyeh told Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani Hamas wanted to strengthen its ties with the Islamic Republic,
despite the often sharp divide between Sunni Islamists (Hamas) and
Shiites (Iran).
"The Palestinian nation and resistance is honored by
its close and intimate relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and
is resolved to continue them powerfully," Haniyeh told Rouhani by phone,
according to the report.
During the same month, senior Hamas member Mahmoud
al-Zahar said the group has close ties with Iran and with other nations
in the region, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
"The movement has good relations with Iran and it is
persistent in maintaining these ties because Iran, unlike others, helps
Hamas without expecting anything in return," al-Zahar said on the
group's al-Aksa satellite television network. "The movement has good
relations with Arab and Muslim states, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and
the UAE, as well."
For years, Iran provided arms, training and funds to
Hamas in Gaza and elsewhere. That relationship faltered somewhat in
2012 when Hamas refused to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and
endorsed anti-government activists.
"I salute all the nations of the Arab Spring and I
salute the heroic people of Syria who are striving for freedom,
democracy and reform," Haniyeh said at an Egyptian mosque during a visit
to Cairo, Reuters reported.
Bardawil also said, "The hearts of the Palestinian
people bleed with every drop of bloodshed in Syria. No political
considerations will make us turn a blind eye to what is happening on the
soil of Syria."
Parting of the Ways
Then, when Egypt ousted Muslim Brotherhood President
Mohammed Morsi last spring and elected former army chief Abdel Fattah
el-Sisi in his place, the budding relationship between Hamas and Egypt
went south, largely due to Hamas support of Sinai-based terror cells.
Following Morsi's ouster, Israel strengthened ties with Egypt, supporting its battle against terrorists in the Sinai.
The Obama administration, for its part, withdrew
support from longtime ally Hosni Mubarak during the so-called Arab
Spring in 2010. Mubarak was forced to resign and the Muslim Brotherhood
took over, helping to elect Morsi. A year later, Morsi was toppled by
popular demand, with the backing of the military, as he sought to impose
fundamental Islamic rule on all Egyptians.
El-Sisi began cracking down on the Muslim
Brotherhood, Hamas, and other terror groups embedded in the Sinai
Peninsula. He closed the Rafah border crossing, destroyed Hamas
smuggling tunnels, and dug a huge trench along the border with Gaza, all
designed to destroy Islamic terror groups, which flourished under
Morsi.