Hamas fighters. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Hamas is determined to maintain good ties with Iran, a Beirut representative of the Gaza-based terrorist group declared on Friday, Iran’s semi-official state news agency Fars reported.

Ali Baraka, Hamas’ envoy to Lebanon, reportedly made the statement during a meeting with Mohammad Majedi, a high-ranking Iranian diplomatic official stationed at the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Beirut.

“[A] decade of Gaza blockade, the continuation of Zionist aggressions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the mushrooming Zionist settlements in the West Bank make it inevitable that the Palestinians, including Hamas should strengthen and promote ties with Iran,” Baraka was quoted by Fars as telling Majedi.

According to the report, Majedi vowed continued Iranian support for “the Palestinian nation, the resistance groups and Palestine’s Intifada against Israel’s occupation.”

Baraka and Majedi were also said to call for Islamic unity against “the Zionist enemy across the region and in Palestine.”

As reported in The Algemeiner earlier this year, Iran has been making serious attempts to restore its relationship with Hamas. Iran was once a main backer of Hamas, but ties soured following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, when they found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict and Hamas was forced to abandon its Damascus command post.

Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds force, was quoted as saying in March, “The world has changed since the Arab Spring. Neither Iran nor Hamas is as it was before. But Hamas and Iran have the desire for a strong uprising in Palestine and confrontation against Israeli aggression. It is imperative to create a new basis for our relations.”

Soleimani continued: “Over the past few years, many mistakes were made, some on the part of Hamas and some on Iran’s part. Nevertheless, we both know that the resistance is in danger, and we know that the only country that can support Palestinian resistance is Iran.”