Western sanctions limiting Iran’s aid: Hamas increasingly ‘desperate’

Thursday, April 8, 2010

ABU DHABI — Iran was said to have reduced the flow of aid to Hamas.

A Kuwaiti newspaper reported that Iran was struggling to maintain funding to the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip.

On March 30, the Al Jareeda daily attributed the drop in Teheran’s support to Western sanctions on banks and other Iranian assets.

“Hamas is desperate for funds,” a Palestinian source said.

In March 2010, Hamas raided a branch of Palestine Bank and stole $800,000. The money, in an account held by a Hamas-controlled non-governmental organization, had been frozen by the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian sources said Hamas has been trading Israeli shekels and U.S. dollars on the black market. They said the Islamist regime has taken advantage of the gap between the official rate and that of the black market.

In February 2010, Hamas failed to pay salaries to security forces and other civil servants. The regime attributed this to technical delays.

The sources said Teheran has maintained funding to Hamas security forces in the Gaza Strip. They said the Iranian money has gone directly to Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari, deemed the most powerful figure in the Islamist regime.

Source: Herald Tribune