Iran hosts Hamas, Islamic Jihad leaders at new president’s inauguration, bolstering support

Iran is hosting the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Iranian state media reported Tuesday. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad Nakhaleh and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s political bureau chief, on Tuesday, the report said.

The terrorist leaders are in Iran to attend the swearing in of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. This demonstrates how the Iranian regime will continue its support for various terrorist groups in the region under the new president.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas continue to carry out attacks on the IDF in Gaza. In addition, both groups are seeking to increase their power in the northern West Bank. Hamas leaders live in Qatar, which is a US ally. The Hamas leaders in Qatar, including Haniyeh, are able to fly around the region and meet with countries that support Hamas, such as Iran and Turkey. This ability to fly around the region has not changed in the wake of the October 7 massacre.

In fact, despite carrying out the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, the terrorist leaders in the region have suffered no consequences or new sanctions on their movements. Iran sees this as a major benefit of October 7, for instance, since it can leverage the war in Gaza to continue to position Hamas to destabilize the West Bank.

Same model Iran uses in Lebanon and Yemen

“The Hamas and Islamic Jihad heads, along with their accompanying delegation, met with Ayatollah Khamenei before the start of the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran this afternoon,” Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Iran’s official news agency, reported Tuesday.

The terrorist leaders were expected to join 70 other foreign delegations for the swearing in, the report said, adding that “at least five presidents and 10 speakers [were to] participate in the inauguration ceremony.”

Iran treats Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as the main representatives of the Palestinians and generally ignores the Palestinian Authority. This is the same template Iran uses in Lebanon, Yemen, and other countries, where it prioritizes proxy groups over the official government. This results in undermining these countries and empowering various terrorist groups and militias.

The Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders’ visit to Iran is symbolic and important. Almost 10 months into the Gaza war, Iran believes it is winning. China also recently hosted 14 Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran and China work closely together.

All of this points to a trend in which Iran, Turkey, Russia, Qatar, and China would like to see Hamas come to power in the West Bank in the wake of the Gaza war.