Hamas delegation visits Iran, Haniyeh hopes for 'important results'
Haniyeh also took the opportunity to condemn a meeting between the Bahrain foreign minister and Israeli officials in the US.
By TZVI JOFFREPalestinians take part in a rally marking the 31st anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Gaza City(photo credit: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA / REUTERS)
The head of the political bureau of the Hamas terrorist movement, Ismail Haniyeh said on Saturday that he hoped that a visit by a senior Hamas delegation in Tehran over the weekend would provide "important results," according to a Hamas press release on the terror group's website.Haniyeh also addressed the withdrawal of Hamas from Syria, saying that the decision was "procedural and studied fully," adding that a decision to restore relations will be procedural and correct.The Hamas chief stressed that Hamas has not and will not intervene in Syrian internal affairs and wishes Syria a strong return and recovery.Haniyeh also took the opportunity to condemn a meeting between the Bahrain foreign minister and Israeli officials in the US, as well as official visits by Israeli and Emirati officials in the two countries.The delegation visiting Iran is scheduled to meet with senior Iranian officials and is headed by Deputy Chairman of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement Saleh Arouri and includes Musa Abu Marzouk, Head of Hamas Diaspora Office Maher Salah, Izzat Al-Rishq, Zaher Jabarinm, Hussam Badran, Usama Hamdan, Ismail Radwan and Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas's representative to Iran.Saleh Arouri is one of the founders of Hamas’s military wing, the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, and is responsible for several bloody terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, including the 2014 kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank. Last November, the US State Department announced a $5 million reward for information which would lead to Arouri's capture.Anna Ahronheim and Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report.
