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Iran Warns Hamas Not to Accept Egyptian Truce Proposal

[Jerusalem Post] Khaled Abu Toameh - Iran is exerting heavy pressure on Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, an Egyptian government official said on Sunday. As soon as the Iranians heard about the Egyptian cease-fire initiative, they dispatched Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and Said Jalili of the Iranian Intelligence Service, to Damascus on an urgent mission to warn the Palestinians against accepting it, the official told the Jerusalem Post. "The Iranians threatened to stop weapons supplies and funding to the Palestinian factions if they agreed to a cease-fire with Israel." "We hope that Hamas has learned the lesson and realizes that it has been fighting a war on behalf of others...the Iranians and Syrians." Egyptian political analyst Magdi Khalil said he shared the view of the PA and Egypt that Hamas was responsible for the war in Gaza. "Hamas and its masters in Damascus and Tehran want to spread chaos in Egypt," he said. He said that Hamas was not only jeopardizing Egypt's national security, but had also destroyed the Palestinians' dream of statehood. "By endorsing the Iranian agenda, Hamas has brought the Iranians to Egypt's eastern border."
2009-01-12 06:00:00
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