The leader for Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, said the group’s financial resources were primarily supplied by Iran, and that it would not misappropriate aid money used for reconstruction, according to a report by London-based news outlet Iran International.
Hamas — which struck Israel with more than 4,000 rockets in the recent conflict — has been increasingly open about the origins of its weapons and armaments, confirming Iran as one of its arms suppliers. The group has also said that Iran provided information on how to make rockets and drones.
The nuclear watchdog for the United Nations called Iran’s uranium enrichment programme “very concerning” on Wednesday, following reports by the agency that Iran’s government was enriching uranium at levels usually observed in countries producing atomic bombs.
Iran’s uranium enrichment levels though easy to reverse, have complicated negotiations to revive a 2015 nuclear deal which would enable sanctions on Iran to be lifted, in return for assurances from Iran that it would restrict its nuclear programme.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, endorsed a decision by the Iranian government to prevent moderate candidates from standing in the country’s presidential election in June. The effect of the new policy will see two leading hardliners, both staunchly loyal to Khamenei standing against each other in the presidential race.
And Iranian authorities were accused of harassing at least 31 family members of those killed in the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 crash in January, by Human Rights Watch. The crash was caused by an IRGC missile which was fired at the passenger jet, following a period of heightened tension between the US and Iran.
Relatives told Human Rights Watch they had been arbitrarily detained and tortured by Iranian officials, who had also tried to frustrate funerals for the deceased in an effort to conceal the government’s wrongdoing. A ruling handed down in a court in Canada last week found the Iranian government guilty of causing the crash, and called the attack an act of terrorism.
