Iranian President Ahmadinejad with Hamas PM Haniyeh
Photo: EPA
Report: Iran won't allow Hamas-Fatah deal to mature
Lebanon's Al-Mustaqbal paper says Tehran issued official demand for Hamas leadership to pull out of Qatar-brokered unity deal
Iran has reportedly issued a demand for Hamas to pull out of the Doha unity agreement signed with Fatah in early February.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal quoted high-level Palestinian sources as saying that Tehran said it would not allow the deal to mature.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal are scheduled to meet in Cairo on Thursday on the matter.
According to the report, the Iranian leadership has issued a list of demands that would make it impossible for Hamas to pursue the current outline of the Qatar-brokered reconciliation deal.
Among the two most prominent demands is one compelling Fatah to release all Hamas prisoners and another demanding that the unity government cease all security coordination efforts with Israel.
Tehran has also offered Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh various monetary incentives to convince his government to vote against the deal.
Al-Mustaqbal's sources added that "it was doubtful" that an agreement could be reached on a Palestinian unity government, as Hamas itself was split over the deal.
The newspaper said that the majority of Hamas officials in the West Bank, as well as the heads of the Hamas' Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, were against the deal in its current form.
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