Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Hamas Keeps Horizons Open with Iran Post IRGC Statements | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Deputy Hamas chief Moussa Abu Marzouk gestures during an interview with Reuters in Gaza City December, Reuters


Ramallah- Palestine’s Hamas recently had responded to Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) using a decisive tone despite arriving to an inter-group agreement, including the wing concerned with restoring ties with Tehran.

Sources believe that Hamas leaders, after conversing, have decided that it is imperative to respond to Iran’s IRGC, making a statement that the group does not play a proxy role to anyone, and that the IRGC must have full understanding of that when striking future accords with the group.

Hamas top officials also agreed that the group’s fundamental conquest to freedom will not be served as a bargaining chip regardless of circumstances.

An official statement was issued by Hamas commandership which denounced all claims made by IRGC council Col. Khosrow Oruj who had accused the group of seeking to negotiate with Israel via Turkish mediation.

Oruj’s accusations were met with utter denial and were considered slander-based allegations.

“Everyone, including the IRGC, should be reminded that Hamas’ official and effective policy is to never negotiate with the enemy,” the statement said.

“Hamas will remain as a beacon for Palestinian resistance until liberation and return by Allah’s will,” the statement added.

Moreover, the Hamas statement was made only hours after Oruj’s claims on the Palestine resistance group harboring intentions for signing treaties of alliance with Israel through Turkish mediation.

Col. Oruj said that signing any consent would be perverting from the adopted mission and pursuit set forth by Iran’s Ruhollah Khomeini. Khomeini – the assumed standard ‘idol’ for Islamic revolution- had refused to neither sit nor negotiate with an oppressor, he said.

The statements made by the IRGC official had heightened the tension between the two formerly allied sides, despite the undying efforts spent on mending bilateral ties shared between Iran and Hamas.

A Hamas source told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that nothing relevantly ‘new’ had emerged, but Oruj’s statement was surprising and a response was required.

They added that everyone is well aware that Hamas is the de facto spearhead of Palestinian resistance, and no political dispute will change this fact.