Israeli media is reporting that according to unidentified sources, Iran was deeply angered at last months visit by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal’s to Saudi Arabia. According to the Jerusalem Post report:
August 13, 2105 Iran has canceled a scheduled visit by a Hamas delegation to the Islamic Republic in response to Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s visit to Tehran’s rival Saudi Arabia last month, the Huffington Post’s Arabic edition quoted informed sources as saying Saturday.
According to the sources, a senior official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards met with Hamas representatives in an undisclosed Arab capital to condemn Mashaal’s visit to Riyadh, saying that the trip was made against Iran’s wishes.
The Iranian official expressed deep anger at the visit, according to the report, and wondered why Mashaal had immediately accepted the Saudi invitation while he had refrained from visiting Tehran for more than four years, despite an open invitation from the Iranian leadership.
Hamas representatives explained that the visit was not intended to be “against Iran,” but rather it came as part of the group’s openness to all nations and Saudi Arabia’s important impact on the Arab and Islamic world, as well as its international influence.
The Iranian official said that the Saudis were attempting to bring Hamas into their orbit in the aftermath of the Iran nuclear deal, as part of its efforts to enlist support against Tehran.
The official told the Hamas representatives at the conclusion of the “stormy” meeting that the Hamas delegation’s expected visit to Iran was being canceled because the Iranian leadership was furious at Mashaal’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
Following last month’s meeting between Mashaal and Saudi King Salmon, senior Hamas official Salah Bardawl told Ma’an News Agency that there had been a breakthrough in previously tense relations between the two sides.
Read the rest here.
The GMBDW reported earlier this month that according to a Hamas official, Iranian aid to Hamas has “drastically decreased.” The GMBDW reported last month that high-level Hamas delegation, including the groups political leader, has visited Saudi Arabia where they met with the new Saudi King as well as other officials. As we noted at that time:
…. the GMBDW takes issue with the article headline, that the seeming reconciliation between Hamas and Saudi Arabia is a “slap to Iran.” As we reported only two weeks ago, senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah had met with officials from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps for an iftar meal [breaking of the Ramadan fast]in Beirut. It appears to us that Hamas is simply returning to its pre- “Arab Spring” ability to maintain strong relationships with both sides.
As we also said, given the long history of ups and downs in the Iranian/Hamas relationships we continue to be skeptical of reports from Hamas operatives and unidentified sources. We will continue to monitor the relevant developments.