Nabil Abu Rudeineh. (palestine.dk)
Even Iran refuses to send money to families of Palestinian terrorists through the corrupt PA, out of fear the funds will be stolen.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) criticized Iran on Saturday for comments made by its parliamentary adviser on International Affairs, who said Iran would send financial incentives to families of Palestinian terrorists through its own channels rather than through the PA because the PA is unreliable.
Earlier on Saturday, Hussein Sheikh al-Islam was quoted by Hamas’ al-Resalah news site as saying that “experience has proven that the [Palestinian] Authority is not reliable, so Tehran will send the money in its own way.”
“Unfortunately, donations that were sent to the Authority did not reach the right people,” al-Islam said.
He was relating to the PA’s notoriously corrupt governmental system which is believed to have embezzled hundreds of millions in foreign aid.
Palestinian Presidency Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said it would have been better for Iran to officially transfer the funds to the PA’s organizations, instead of sending them through “twisted ways and illegitimate means,” the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported.
Abu Rudeineh said the Iranian official’s comments were “unacceptable,” and that they did not help the Palestinian struggle against the so-called Israeli occupation.
Abu Rudeineh added that he saw the possible circumvention of the PA as “an interference in internal Palestinian and Arab issues,” and that such a move would constitute “a violation of international laws regarding relations between countries.”
The PA and Iran have made efforts to strengthen bilateral ties, even discussing the appointment of an Iranian ambassador to the PA, but ultimately the two entities have been biting at each other’s heels for years.
In the meantime, Hamas says its ties with Iran have strengthened.
Hamas’ International Relations Chief Osama Hamdan on Sunday rejected claims over the deterioration of ties between Hamas and Iran, saying that Hamas’ position on relations with Iran is clear, “strategic and beyond political issues.”
“Some parties are unhappy with good relations between Iran and Hamas and do their best to destroy the relationships,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
The senior Hamas official emphasized that the “Iran-Hamas ties will go on and any disputes which arise in between will be examined with a view to strengthen and consolidate relations until a solution is found.”
