There has been no break and no hostility—and there isn’t likely to be—but the two Arab groups find their close ties to Iran to be a heavy weight to bear within the Arab world because Iran’s firm support for Syria has brought its status to a new low within the Arab world.
Hezbollah also calculates that Israel could soon attack Iran—and might just strike Hezbollah at the same time for good measure. The Islamic Republic has long implied that Hezbollah would rain rockets down on Israel in the event of an Israeli attack on Iran, so it wouldn’t be illogical for Israel to strike preemptively. But last week, Hezbollah’s leadership pointedly walked far, far away from any threat to attack Israel.
Neither Hamas nor Hezb-ollah has criticized the Islamic Republic, a major source of funds. But they are trying to figure out how to keep Iran happy while not appearing to other Arabs to be Tehran’s poodles.
In a speech last week, Hezb-ollah leader Hassan Nasrollah acknowledged that Hezbollah has been receiving aid from Iran but pointedly said Iran would not ask Hezbollah to intervene if Israel attacked it. That was an indirect way of telling Israel that Hezb-ollah had no intention of attacking Israel for Iran’s benefit.
Nasrollah emphasized that although Hezbollah has received Iranian aid “in all its possible ways and available forms” since 1982, Iran does not dictate its policy.
The speech portrayed Hezb-ollah as a friend of Iran’s, but not as a client.
Hamas has been going through similar gyrations. On Saturday, Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas appeared alongside President Ahmadi-nejad in front of a crowd commemorating Iran’s revolution.
Hamas’ parent movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, had a strong showing in the recent elections held in Tunisia and Egypt. Hamas is now looking to cast itself in a more moderate light in order to keep a respected position within the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
“The Arab Spring awakenings had a pivotal effect on Hamas’ worldview,” said Fawaz Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics. “The rise of the Islamists to power has really given Hamas a strategic depth.”
And that is reflected in Hamas’ recent positioning vis-à-vis Iran.
It has resisted pressure from Iran to publicly declare its support for Syria’s embattled Bashar al-Assad, and it has reduced its presence in Syria in response to Assad’s brutal crackdown on the popular uprising against his government.
Iran is not happy. News reports say Tehran delayed its monthly support payments to exert pressure on Hamas. But the movement did not give in and endorse Assad. However, the obeisance-paying visit to Tehran this week may have been in lieu of statements that could undermine the Hamas position in the Arab world.
Hamas is now relying more than before on aid from Qatar, which is vying for diplomatic dominance in the region and trying to undercut Iran’s influence. Haniya pointedely visited Qatar before going on to Tehran.
Beyond the aid money, Hamas is also relying on Qatar more and more for political support. Last week, it accepted the terms of a Qatar-brokered unity deal with Mahmoud Abbas of the rival party, Fatah, to form a united government in Palestine.
All of these are reasons why, despite the physical closeness on that Tehran stage between Haniya and Ahmadi-nejad, Middle East watchers couldn’t help but notice the distance.
To be sure, Haniya did reiterate some of the tried-and-true talking points that Iran likes to hear.
“They want us to recognize the Israeli occupation and cease resistance but, as the representative of the Palestinian people and in the name of all the world’s freedom seekers, I am announcing from Azadi Square in Tehran that we will never recognize Israel,” Haniya was quoted as saying.
But these proclamations were not enough to allay Iran’s concerns. In a meeting, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi warned Haniya against drifting away from the core of the resistance.
“Always be wary of infiltration by the compromisers in a resistance organization, which will gradually weaken it,” he was quoted on his website as telling the Gaza prime minister.
“We have no doubt about your resistance and that of many of your brothers, and the people only have this expectation of you,” the Supreme Leader advised.
Iranian media covered Haniya’s visit heavily, but Hamas television did not provide any immediate coverage of the event. Hamas officials even tried to downplay the visit, refusing to talk to the media and avoiding calls from journalists. That made clear the Tehran visit was meant to appease the moneybag holders in Tehran while hopefully going under the radar in the Arab world.
Hezbollah was created in 1982 with major backing from Iran and has always received substantial sums from Iran, though in the last decade it is believed to get more of its funding on its own initiative. For Hamas, the financial chart has gone the other way. It used to get only small sums from Tehran, but, after taking control of Gaza, became very dependent on Tehran for the funds needed to operate a government with few revenue resources.