GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Iranian-Hamas relations have been growing warmer, especially after the new Hamas leadership was elected in May 2017, which re-established the movement's relationship with Tehran and resolved all differences that resulted from Hamas' neutral stance on the conflict in Syria in 2012.

Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force Qasem Soleimani said during an event held in the northern Iranian city of Babol on Feb. 21 that Hamas was one of Tehran's friends in the Arab region, praising what he called “the firm foundations” of Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement with Iran.

Al-Quds newspaper quoted anonymous Palestinian sources March 4 as saying that Iran had re-established its financial support for Hamas. Tehran would provide $15 million annually to the movement in principle, an amount that would likely double in the coming period, according to the paper.

Tehran significantly reduced its financial and military support to Hamas following the departure of the movement's leadership from Damascus in February 2012, and its neutrality over the internal Syrian conflict, as well as its announcement in March 2015 to stand by the internationally recognized government in Yemen supported by Saudi Arabia.