The Iranian leadership and the terrorist organization Hamas running the Gaza Strip have become closer in recent months.
Hamas has embraced Tehran because of its dire financial straits, having been rebuffed by the Sunni Arab states, which have refused to offer assistance to the coastal enclave.
Egypt has been preventing Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh from going to Tehran to raise funds for his terrorist movement. But Hamas did not give up and ultimately Haniyeh's deputy Salah al-Arouri, who is based in Beirut, was sent to Tehran.
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About a month ago, al-Arouri headed a senior Hamas delegation to Tehran for talks with officials. During the visit, the Iranians promised to provide generous financial support and weapon systems. They also said they would continue arming the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, which is the Iranian proxy in the Gaza Strip
But even Hamas knows there is no such thing as a free lunch, especially when that lunch is cooked by Iran, a country that has faced crippling American sanctions and is on a collision course with the West.
Thus, while Hamas has ostensibly trying to enforce the truce with Israel and distance itself from the recent escalation along the Gaza Strip border (include two foiled cross-border attacks against Israel), it has colluded with Tehran to inflame tensions.
The thousands of Muslim worshippers who rioted on the Temple Mount this week essentially received orders from Tehran, which hopes this could provoke a response from Israel and the US, and drawing the Arab world close to the Shiite regime.
Iran's actions are clearly felt in our region. Last week's brutal killing of a young Israeli in Gush Etzion and the provocations in Jerusalem this week on Tisha B'Av are just two examples.
