TEHRAN, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, received a warm welcome when he visited Iran for undisclosed reasons, officials say.
Hamas officials dodged calls from journalists regarding the meeting, saying only that Haniyeh arrived in Tehran Friday.
The New York Times reported Iranian media outlets detailed an official welcoming ceremony complete with an honor guard. The warm welcome suggests relations between Hamas and Iran remain positive, despite tensions during the Syrian uprising due to Hamas' resistance to support Syrian president Bashar Assad, the Times said.
Haniyeh is on his second regional tour since December, having already visited Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. He was advised by Persian gulf leaders not to visit Tehran. However, analyst Mustafa Sawaf, who is close to Hamas in Gaza, said not only does Hamas refuse such advise, but Haniyeh would probably even invite Iranian officials to Gaza.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said: "For anyone who had any illusions as to the extremist nature of Hamas, I would hope this would serve as a wake-up call. The leadership of Iran and the leadership of Hamas share the same extremist goals. In many ways, Hamas is Iran's proxy."
