Abbas keeps options open with gesture to Iran
Senior Palestinian officials from Ramallah have recently visited Damascus and Tehran, suggesting President Mahmoud Abbas is exploring other options if US-brokered peace talks with Israel fail.
When Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a German TV network that Iran would support Palestinians in whatever position they take, he was not making a new policy. Successive Iranian officials have made similar pronouncements. However, Zarif's statement had a ring of credibility to it. After all, Zarif and his boss President Hassan Rouhani have been moderating Iran’s foreign policy in line with what they promised the Iranian electorate last year.
Iranian officials have gotten away with such statements because of the vagueness of who represents the Palestinian people. Hard-line Iranians can justify these statements by insisting that the majority of the elected representatives to the Palestinian Legislative Council, and not the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), are the internationally accepted representatives.
However, today, Iran’s relations with Hamas have deteriorated after the Islamist movement, which was based in Damascus, turned against President Bashar al-Assad and publicly supported the opposition.
Last week, Iran welcomed senior Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub who reportedly passed on greetings from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Iranian leadership.
