Iran threatens funding for Hamas if it calls for truce

Not that Israel would consider a ceasefire with Hamas right now. But it is in Iran's best interest, with regard to their nuclear weapons program, that Israel be busy with Hamas until Obama's inauguration.

Just a few days ago it was revealed that Israel had approached The US about allowing IAF bomber jets fly over Iraq to hit Iran. President Bush spurned the Israeli initiative in favor of covert ops against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Lots of analysts predicted an Israeli strike against Iran between the election of Obama and his inauguration. After Obama's inauguration, Iran can expect dialogue with the US. Could Iran have pushed Hamas into a conflict with Israel to prevent a strike against its nuke facilities?

Iran's condition of further funding for Hamas only if it continues the fight give a little credence to the theory. I expect Iran to strongly call for an immediate ceasefire around the time of the inauguration.
Jerusalem Post....

Iran is exerting heavy pressure on Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, an Egyptian government official said on Sunday.

The official told The Jerusalem Post by phone that two senior Iranian officials who visited Damascus recently warned Hamas leaders against accepting the proposal.[...]

The Egyptian official said that the two Iranian emissaries, Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and Said Jalili of the Iranian Intelligence Service, met in the Syrian capital with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah.

"As soon as the Iranians heard about the Egyptian cease-fire initiative, they dispatched the two officials to Damascus on an urgent mission to warn the Palestinians against accepting it," the Egyptian government official told the Post.

"The Iranians threatened to stop weapons supplies and funding to the Palestinian factions if they agreed to a cease-fire with Israel. The Iranians want to fight Israel and the US indirectly. They are doing this through Hamas in Palestine and Hizbullah in Lebanon".