Iran Cuts Funding to Hamas For Cultural Programs
Iranian funds for Gaza's cultural, education and sports scene have withered due to the fallout with Hamas over Syria.
Iranian aid for Hamas in the Gaza Strip has declined. International agencies had estimated Iranian aid at $20 million a month. The decline in Iranian aid has had a noticeable impact on cultural, sports and social projects that Iran used to support with a little bit of competition from Qatar, which has become the top aid provider for Hamas. The Qatari grant for the reconstruction of Gaza was estimated at $407 million in 2012.
Al-Monitor met with Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ziad al-Zaza. When asked if his government was receiving Iranian aid, he denied that his government had received support from any country.
In an interview at his Ministry of Finance office [June 17], Zaza said, “We do not get any support from any government in the world. But we receive support from our friends, our Arab brothers and from the free world.”
In response to whether his government had Iranian friends who supported it, he said, “Iran is a Muslim sister state like all Arab and Muslim countries. ... There are individuals [who support us] in Iran, like in all Arab countries and the free world. That kind of support is still ongoing but it is minor. We are talking anywhere between $5 million to $12 million a month. I have been in the government since 2006 and nothing has changed.”
