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Iran funding terrorism, says Hillary

DUBAI: Iran and the U.S have sparred over reconstruction of Gaza following the 22-day conflict involving the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel.

On arrival in Brussels soon after concluding her maiden visit to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that Iran intended to “interfere with the internal affairs” in the region by funding terrorism, “whether it’s Hizbollah, Hamas or other proxies”.

She said Arab leaders present at the recent Gaza donor conference in Egypt had complained about Iran’s role in the region. Ms. Clinton visited West Asia in the aftermath of the Gaza war where the Palestinian group Hamas backed by Iran, Syria and the Lebanese group Hizbollah battled U.S.-armed Israel for 22 days.

During the Gaza donors conference at the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el Sheikh, Washington decided to divert its aid either to the Palestinian Authority led by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas or to the United Nations for the reconstruction of Gaza. U.S. officials stressed that funds would not be handed over to Hamas, which controls Gaza.

On Wednesday, the U.S.-backed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas also accused Iran of interference in Palestinian affairs. “They [Iranians] are interfering only to deepen the rift between Palestinians,” he said in the presence of Ms. Clinton.

Iran’s riposte to the Sharm-el-Sheikh meeting came in the form of a parallel conference on Gaza in Tehran, where Hamas leaders were prominently represented.

At the conference, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed that Hamas should be the focus of the Gaza reconstruction exercise. He said the Hamas government — which was elected by a decisive majority of the Palestinians — should be at the centre of all reconstruction efforts. The Iranian leader advocated resistance against the Israeli occupation and said it was a fallacy to assume that Palestinian nationhood could be achieved only through negotiations.

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