WarSclerotic

Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar recently admitted that his organization maintains close ties with Iran.

In an interview with Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen television on May 21, Sinwar was asked whether Hamas’ response to a new Israeli offensive would be unprecedented. “Absolutely. This is certain and beyond any doubt,” he said.

According to a transcript on the Middle East Media Research Institute’s website, he went on to explain that “our resistance in the Gaza Strip has greatly developed its capabilities first and foremost thanks to Allah, but also with the help of the righteous free men of our nation – first and foremost the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has provided the [Izzedine] al-Qassam Brigades‎ and the other factions of the resistance with a lot of money, equipment and expertise, even before the [Israeli] aggression, but especially after it.”

He said that Iran “has provided us with a lot of resources, which allowed for the great development of our capabilities.”

Sinwar went on to elaborate on the close relations Hamas has with Iran and Hezbollah, Tehran’s proxy in Lebanon, as well as with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.

“We have excellent relations with our brothers in Hezbollah. Our relations with them are extremely developed. We work together and coordinate and are in touch on an almost daily basis. The relations are at the best stage ever. Similarly, our ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran, with brother Qassem Soleimani [commander of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s black-ops arm] and the other brothers in the IRGC leadership are very strong, powerful and warm. Our relations with the Islamic republic are excellent,” he reiterated.

During the interview, Sinwar went out of his way to show that there is no daylight between Hamas and the Iranian regime.

Hamas and Iran, both of which seek Israel’s destruction, maintained very close ties in the past, but the relationship soured when Hamas refused to support Iran’s ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad, in the civil war in Syria. Gaza’s rulers began trying to mend fences with their Iranian patrons in early 2015, after finding themselves in dire straits following a 2014 war with Israel. In 2017, Hamas officials admitted Tehran was once again the Islamist group’s biggest backer.

Many have attributed the improvement in the two’s relations to the resurgence of Assad’s regime.