Hamas official: we will not cut our ties with Iran

Deputy Head of Hamas political bureau Saleh al-Arouri said that his party would never agree to cut ties with Iran and give up armed struggle for talks with Israel, according to Fars Iranian news agency.

Al-Arouri made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader's top adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati in Tehran on Saturday.

Referring to the peace negotiations in Cairo, he said that Israel had set three preconditions for talks, including disarmament of Hamas, recognition of the Zionist regime and cutting ties with Iran.

"In response to the first prerequisite that was disarmament of Hamas, we have declared that we don’t accept it at all," he said, adding that the second precondition was also rejected as Hamas is now fighting to destroy Israel.

"Our presence in Iran is the practical denial of the third precondition that was cutting ties with Iran," al-Arouri said.

A senior Hamas delegation began a visit to Iran on Friday to inform Tehran about reconciliation efforts with rival Palestinian faction Fatah, a Hamas official said.

The two parties reached a reconciliation agreement earlier this month at the Egyptian intelligence headquarters in Cairo ending a decade-long split.