Hamas terror forces. Photo: Olly Lambert.

Terror group Hamas has received more than $2 billion from Iran, while rival Islamic Jihad receives between $100-$150 million annually, according to Ali Nourizadeh, Director of the Center for Iranian Studies, in London, Persian-language Raya News reported.

Nourizadeh said Hamas receives the aid through various channels, either in cash, when Hamas leaders visit Tehran, or through Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and the $2 billion figure is the total received since Hamas’s inception. Islamic Jihad receives its money via Hezbollah or through banks in Beirut or Malta.

However, Nourizadeh said, Hamas’s loyalties lie elsewhere.

“Iran has paid a lot to strengthen its relationship with Hamas to be used as a card but it did not succeed because [Hamas] has good relations with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the Arab states and Iran is no longer the main source of funding Hamas, so Iran considers its investment in Hamas to be unsuccessful,” Nourizadeh said.

Nourizadeh said Islamic Jihad fighters are trained in Iran and the group’s weapons all come from Iran, with Hezbollah playing an important role in the supply line. On the other hand, no more than 500 Hamas fighters were trained by Iran.

Additionally, according to Nourizadeh, a new rapprochement effort is now underway between the PLO and Iran. Fatah official Jibril Rajoub recently visited the Islamic Republic following a New York meeting between PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

He said the Palestinian Authority, and, earlier, the PLO, has not received any aid from the Islamic Republic since the regime’s rise to power in the 1979 revolution.

The Raya News report was flagged by blogger Elder of Ziyon.