Senior Hamas official: Everything Tehran says to us is a lie

In an audiotape leaked to Arab media outlets, Musa Abu Marzouk is heard making a scathing attack on Iran’s leaders.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau Musa Abu Marzouk talks during an interview in Cairo on August 9. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Deputy chairman of Hamas’s political bureau Musa Abu Marzouk talks during an interview in Cairo on August 9.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A senior Hamas official has strongly criticized Iran, accusing its leaders of lying about their aid to the Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip.
In an audiotape leaked to Arab media outlets, Musa Abu Marzouk is heard making a scathing attack on Iran’s leaders, saying they have not given Hamas anything since 2009.
It is not clear when, how or where Abu Marzouk was recorded. Nor is it clear who is responsible for leaking the audiotape, which is likely to strain relations between Hamas and Tehran.
Relations between the two sides already suffered a setback in wake of Hamas’s refusal to support the Iranian- backed regime of Bashar Assad in Syria.
“The story is different from than the one they [the Iranians] tell,” Abu Marzouk said. “They are among those who are unclear and ambiguous. They are also very cautious with politics. Since 2009, we haven’t received anything from them. Everything they are saying is a lie.”
Abu Marzouk claimed that Iran had demanded that Hamas work toward improving Tehran’s relations with Sudan and other countries as a condition for providing aid to the Islamist movement.
The Hamas leader also accused the Iranians of lying about sending arms ships to the Gaza Strip. “Since 2011, they claim that each ship they lost was headed to the Gaza Strip,” he charged. “They said that a ship that went missing in Nigeria was intended to arrive in the Gaza Strip.”
Abu Marzouk is also heard criticizing Iran’s intervention in the civil war in Yemen through its Houthi proxy militia.