Hamas Sets Great Store by Mutual Ties

A senior member of the Palestinian group Hamas said Chairman of Hamas Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh's recent letter to Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei proves that the resistance movement in the Gaza Strip has strategic ties with Iran. "This Letter is indicative of Hamas' strategic relations with the Islamic Republic," Ismail Rizwan told Tasnim News Agency in an interview published on Saturday. "This Letter will strengthen the relations," he added. In the letter, Haniyeh praised the Iranian nation and leadership for supporting Palestine and the anti-Israeli axis of resistance. Haniyeh pointed to the US decision to recognize Beit-ul-Moqaddas as the capital of Israel and said hegemonic powers have hatched a major plot against Quds and the Palestinian nation with the aim of wiping out the Gaza Strip as the bastion of resistance, ending the fight against the Zionist regime, and normalizing relations between Israel and "dependent" rulers of regional countries.