Hamas Leader Meshal : Iran Has Big Share In Our Victory In Gaza

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshal told Iranian leaders during a visit to Tehran on Sunday that the Islamic Republic had played a big role in helping Hamas to achieve 'victory' during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has a big share in our victory in the Gaza Strip," said Meshal, who met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A high-level delegation from Hamas arrived in Tehran early on Sunday as part of a regional push to reinforce support for the Palestinian group after Israel's 22-day offensive in Gaza, a Hamas official said.

Khamenei told Hamas during the visit to be prepared for possible fresh Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday. He said the war in Gaza had yet to be finished and praised "the resistance of Gazans".

"The Islamic resistance (Hamas) should be prepared for any possible situation, including a fresh war in Gaza," Khamenei told Meshaal, Fars reported. "The enemy's [Israel] psychological war ... still goes on."

Israeli and U.S. officials have accused Iran of providing weapons, cash and training to Hamas militants in Gaza. Iran insists it only gives moral and political support to Hamas.

Hamas was in close contact with Iran, its main backer along with Syria, during the Gaza assault, which was halted last month, with the two sides declaring separate cease-fires.

Hamas views the war as resulting in regional diplomatic gains for the group, with Turkey criticizing Israel and Qatar convening a high profile meeting with the participation of Hamas that supported Hamas's objectives.

Meshal visited Qatar last week. Five other Hamas politburo members are accompanying Meshal on the visit to Tehran.

Hamas said it would intensify its post war diplomatic efforts to lift the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, imposed with the help of Egypt.

The group has kept a line open with Cairo, which is mediating a deal for a more solid truce that tries to meet Israel's demands for stopping arms flows into Gaza and Hamas's demands for lifting the blockade.

Hamas regards the blockade, which damaged Gaza's economy and further impoverished the majority of the territory's population, as a form of illegal collective punishments and cited it as a reason for not renewing a previous cease-fire for Israel in December.

by Reuters.