Gaza head being pressured out of Iran visit

The head of Hamas’ political wing in Gaza is being pressured to not visit Iran, Israel Radio reported on Thursday. According to reports, various Arab countries have told Ismail Haniyeh that visiting the country could have financial repercussions.

Haniyeh has spent the past few days meeting with Arab leaders in the Gulf, including those of Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, to raise funds for the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip. The Jerusalem-based Al Quds newspaper reported that Haniyeh was told a visit to Iran would affect his bottom line according to Israel Radio.

Tehran sources have said that Haniyeh had a trip scheduled to Tehran during which he would attend ceremonies over the weekend marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. However, sources within Hamas have said that although Haniyeh had received an invitation, he hadn’t yet accepted it.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera last week, Haniyeh said that ties between Hamas and Iran are ongoing. Whether Iran would continue to provide aid to the Palestinians, now that Hamas was no longer longer backing Syria in the wake of that country’s unrest, was a decision Iran would have to take, Haniyeh said.