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Meshaal to Tehran: Return of the Prodigal Son?

News outlets report that Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas' political bureau, will soon visit Iran to rebuild ties strained over Syria.
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal shakes hands with a man as he leaves the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip December 10, 2012. Hamas leader Meshaal ended his first visit to the Gaza Strip on Monday with a pledge his Islamist movement would strive to heal political rifts with Palestinian rivals who hold sway in the occupied West Bank. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3BF9S
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Khaled Meshaal will visit Iran. This has been confirmed by Al-Monitor’s sources in Tehran, but still unconfirmed — to us and Meshaal — is the timing.

It was obvious that relations between Hamas, the strong Palestinian resistance faction, and Iran, its regional backer, deteriorated due to conflicting interests in Syria. Iran backed its ally Bashar al-Assad while Hamas decided it was time to ally with its ideological mother, the Muslim Brotherhood, which was already gaining ground in Tunisia, Egypt and was a favorite to rule Syria, in case the revolution succeeded in toppling the regime.

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