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Arab/Muslim States

Iran, Hamas 'perturbed' by news of Israeli-Syrian talks


By Stan Goodenough
May 25, 2008

The Iranians and the Hamas - one of Tehran's terrorist proxies - moved quickly at the weekend to express dismay and concern at the news, broken last Wednesday, of imminent Israeli-Syrian negotiations towards peace.

Talks on the Israeli-Syrian "track' had been in limbo for eight years before the governments in both countries, after months of secret activity, announced that they had been laying the groundwork for peace talks and were now ready to launch them, albeit indirectly via Turkey.

According to Israeli media, sources close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was unable to conceal his disappointment and surprise at news of the renewed talks.

Ahmadinejad had characterized the reports as a "flagrant violation" by Damascus of its responsibility towards its powerful, eastern neighbor.

In what some observers saw as an effort to squeeze Syria, Iran announced that in response to Syria's taking a step towards the periphery of the Iranian orbit, Iran planned to provide the Islamist Hamas movement with advanced weapons.

This was reported in the London-based a-Sharq al-Awset on Sunday, which also said that Damascus-hosted Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal met with senior Iranian officials including the leader of the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran this weekend.

While Hamas was supposedly careful not to openly criticize Syrian dictator Bashar el-Assad and his government, it let it be known that it was "extremely disturbed" to hear news of the pending talks.

Gaza-based Hamas spokesmen told The Jerusalem Post its movement's leaders in Damascus were even considering moving to Tehran in protest of what they believe is a change in Syria's strategy.

Almost simultaneously with this news, other reports were circulated according to which both Iran and the Hamas had found a way to position themselves behind Syria by supporting its demands for the full return of the Golan Heights.

Meanwhile, what these responses immediately did [by design? - Ed] was encourage Israel's so-called peace camp (the left) which has been poised to throw its full weight behind the idea, to now start issuing statements in favor of it.

In short, the Iranian-Hamas response has effectively given a push to the ball Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert set rolling last week.

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