The Qatari Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) on March 14 issued the 2016 results of the Arab Index, its annual survey of Arab public opinion. The center dispatched 840 Doha-based researchers to Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Palestine to conduct polls last Sept. 7-22 on various issues, including how Palestinians view the foreign policies adopted by Middle Eastern and international powers. According to the survey, Palestinians have a negative impression of Iranian policy in the region, especially in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Libya, and of its stance toward the Palestinian cause.

Ahmad Hussein, a Palestinian researcher at ACRPS, told Al-Monitor, “The survey showed that Palestinians have a negative view toward Iran, which contributes to the region’s crises and fuels sectarian and ethnic disputes in order to play a more effective, influential role. Seventy percent of Palestinians believe Iranian policy toward the Arab region is negative.”

Hussein also said, “These figures mean that the Palestinians do not really believe in the credibility of the Iranian discourse on Palestine. Seventy-two percent of them believe that Iran is exploiting the crises in the region to expand its influence and seek a wider role, while 65% reject the idea that Iran supports a democratic shift in the Arab countries.”

In short, it seems, a large segment of Palestinians is unconvinced of true Iranian support of the Palestinian cause, as they believe such a stance flies in the face of Tehran's policies toward their fellow Arab Muslims in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Remarkably, Palestinians still think badly of Iran’s policies in the region, although Tehran's stated positions appear to be supportive of the Palestinian cause. For instance, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Feb. 21 that supporting the Palestinian resistance is a duty for all Muslims, because it has succeeded in undermining Israeli efforts against the Palestinians. He added that Iran's stance is based on principle and does not favor one Palestinian faction over the other, as demonstrated in Tehran's foreign diplomatic discourse and its financial and military support of Palestinian factions.