Turkish Brothers: Investing Iranian money to defend Hamas in favor of Tehran

Mustafa Kamel

Despite the seemingly apparent contradiction and ideological difference between the Brotherhood and Iran, the two sides always raise the slogan “No voice is raised above the voice of interest”, especially after the secret meeting that brought together leaders from both sides in Turkey in 2014, and revealed the existence of harmony and communication since many years.

Silence

The Brotherhood did not make any statement about the killing of “Qassem Soleimani”, the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, in a US raid in Baghdad on January 3, 2020, nor did it formally comment of announce any position on its part regarding the killing of the man, unlike Hamas in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, which mourned him. It also pushed its arms in Turkey – specifically – to defend itself and highlight that what it had done was an important part of the strategy of cooperation with Tehran.

“Hamas has not sinned.” This was the slogan of the Brotherhood members in Turkey to defend the movement after receiving condolences for the killing of “Soleimani”, saying: “Iran is the only country that helped arm the movement and train its cadres in making missiles. Without this contribution, Gaza would have fallen for years, it was not required to rejoice at his murder and the chivalry of what it did to offer condolences to those who stood with and helped it.

Close relationships

Tehran supported the “Hamas” and “Islamic Jihad” movements that received logistical, financial, armament and ideological sponsorship. Khaled Meshaal, the former head of Hamas’s political bureau in January 2016, thanked Iran for its support, confirming in a statement transmitted by the official Iranian TV, that “the people of Gaza have always valued the political and spiritual support they received from Iranian leaders and people.”

The Brotherhood’s electronic committees for desperate defense of Hamas have worked for Tehran, saying: “Soleimani has provided a lot to the Palestinians, including a missile project, anti-armor and cornet missiles, training of special forces and military leaders inside the Gaza Strip, in addition to providing financial support, and those committees added that Hamas would have been like ISIS had it not been for Iranian support through Soleimani, who transformed it into a political and armed project simultaneously.”

Paradoxical attitude

In another direction, the Syrian Brotherhood commented on the killing of Soleimani in a statement on Friday January 3, 2020, supporting the American operation.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Brotherhood member Ahmed Al-Mughair, who escaped abroad, criticized what Hamas had done, and made it clear through his Facebook personal account that it is not the first time that the movement offered condolences to Iran; but it came out with condolences on all of the Iranian dead who were killed in Syria and Iraq, pointing out that the movement gives political and media coverage to what Tehran is doing in Syria.

Al-Mughayer said: “Iran has provided its support to the movement until it provides a Shiite alternative to it in Gaza, and the movement is sticking to Iran because it provides it with unconditional support and depends on the existence of the Shiite alternative. It said, he added, that Iran is already making huge efforts to spread Shiism in Gaza.