Iran hails Hamas victory

AFP ^ | January 26, 2006

[West Coast Conservative]

Iran has congratulated the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas for its election victory and praised voters for choosing "to continue the struggle and resistance against occupation".

Hamid Reza Asefi, the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement on Thursday faxed to journalists:"The Islamic republic of Iran congratulates Hamas and all the Palestinian soldiers and the great Islamic people."

Iran and Hamas are allies and declared in December that they represented a "united front" against Israel. "The Palestinians have voted for the resistance and have shown their loyalty," Asefi said.

"The result of these elections will reinforce the unity of the Palestinian people in defending their rights. The massive participation of the Palestinians shows their will to continue the struggle and resistance against occupation."

Although Iran is a vocal supporter of Hamas - as well as the Palestinian resitance group Islamic Jihad and the Lebanese Shia movement Hizb Allah - the clerical regime denies allegations it finances these groups.

But on 15 December, Khaled Meshaal, the Hamas political chief said during a visit to the Iranian capital that his group would step up attacks against Israel if the Jewish state took military action against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme

"Just as Islamic Iran defends the rights of the Palestinians, we defend the rights of Islamic Iran. We are part of a united front against the enemies of Islam," Meshaal said during the visit.

"Each member of this front defends itself with its own means in its region. We carry the battle in Palestine. If Israel launches an attack against Iran, we will expand the battlefield in Palestine," he said.

"We are part of a united front, and if one member of this front is attacked it is our duty to support them," he added, also praising Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, for his "courageous" anti-Israeli stance.

Since sweeping to power in a shock election win last June, Ahmadinejad has embarked on an all-out verbal assault against Israel.

He has labelled the Jewish state as a "tumour" that should be "wiped off the map" or moved as far away as Alaska, and has branded the Holocaust a "myth".

[humint]

Iran is awash in petro-wealth. If the U.S. decides to diplomatically and economic disengage because Hamas took this election, such a maneuver would virtually guarantee Iran would fill the vacuum. RECALL:

We have to figure out a way to remain engaged there despite the fact, American foreign policy is to not deal with organizations on our FTO list. Regional peace and global security depend on it. If Iran sparks a war on the back of these elections the case for democracy will be seriously wounded for many years to come. No matter what the outcome, this was the right thing to do. Democracy is the natural state of human affairs. We wanted to hear what the people there had to say and they spoke clearly. Granted, these are their first democratic words. I believe it’s OK to hope that their democratic message from the ballot box will not be their last, all the while realizing that hope is no substitute for clear policy.

What’s going to drive me crazy are all of the pundits who are going to start their commentary with some paraphrased version of, “I told you so!” You told us what, “Adults in the ME cannot live side by side without slaughtering one another.” Well, the killing hasn’t started yet… and it doesn’t have to.