Hamas Maintains Ties With Iran Despite Difference Over Syria
Despite a strain in ties over the Syrian crisis, Hamas is still interested in maintaining relations with Iran, Abeer Ayyoub reports.
The positive outcomes of the Arab uprisings far outweighed the negatives for Gaza’s ruling Islamists, Hamas. The revolts led to the rise of fellow Islamists in Egypt and Tunisia, allowing Hamas to open up to the regional environment.
But the ongoing uprising in Syria did not fit well for Hamas, which found itself caught between two hard options: siding with President Bashar al-Assad and thus losing popular support in other Arab countries, or showing solidarity with the Syrian people and losing Iran, Hamas' main financial backer.
Hamas had to deal with the Syrian issue delicately. It maintained a neutral stance until it completed withdrawing its exiled political leadership from Damascus at the beginning of 2012.
Though it eventually ended up on the side of the Syrian people, Hamas argues that it has still maintained good relations with Iran.
