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Gaza: Tehran's Greater Game
[New York Post] Amir Taheri - Khalid Mashaal, Hamas' "Supreme Leader" who lives in exile in Damascus, initially endorsed the Mecca Palestinian unity government deal, but was persuaded to change his position under Iranian and Syrian pressure. During a visit to Tehran, Mashaal heard point-blank that Iran favored "an intensification of the struggle against the Zionist enemy" rather than an easing of tension that a coalition with Abbas implied. Iranian President Ahmadinejad has structured his foreign policy on the assumption that a military showdown with America and Israel is inevitable. He also thinks that the radical forces led by Tehran would be able to resist long enough and to raise the cost of the conflict in human terms to break the adversaries' will to fight. For Ahmadinejad's policy to succeed, it is imperative that Lebanon and the Palestinian territories become advanced posts for the Islamic Republic.