During a celebration to mark Hamas’ inauguration, which was held in the Gaza Strip on Dec. 14, Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, expressed his thanks to Iran for supporting Hamas with money and weapons and providing it with rockets and anti-tank missiles.

Before Hamas expressed its thanks to Iran, a high-level visit to Tehran was made by a Hamas delegation on Dec. 8. The visit was headed by Hamas political bureau member Mohammed Nasr, head of its international affairs, Osama Hamdan, Maher Obeid, Jamal Issa and Hamas representative in Tehran Khalid al-Qaddumi. The delegation met with Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in an attempt to restore Iran’s military and financial support for the movement.

On Dec. 15, Hamdan described the visit as fruitful and that the relationship between both sides was better than many could imagine and that the visit was made to promote the 24-year-old ties.

Nasr, the head of the delegation, told Al-Monitor, “Hamas is keen to promote ties with Iran, to overcome the sensitive and critical circumstances in the region to serve the Palestinian cause.”