Hamas has called on Iran to refrain from attacking neighbouring countries, in a rare public appeal that highlights emerging strains within Tehran’s regional alliance network as conflict spreads across the Middle East.
In a statement carried by Al Jazeera Arabic and Palestinian media, the militant group urged restraint from its long-time patron, saying it called on “our brothers in Iran not to target neighbouring countries” and urging “all countries in the region to cooperate to stop this aggression and preserve the bonds of brotherhood”. Hamas has not denied issuing the statement and no other member of the so-called Axis of Resistance has publicly contradicted it.
The message comes after Iran launched missile strikes against the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and fired toward Oman and Qatar since February 28, according to regional security officials. The attacks followed escalating hostilities between Iran, Israel and the US, transforming the Gaza war into a broader regional confrontation.
For Hamas, the countries targeted by Tehran are also central to its political and financial survival. Qatar hosts and mediates Hamas ceasefire negotiations with Israel, while Gulf financial networks have historically provided channels that support Gaza’s fragile economy and humanitarian infrastructure.
The group’s statement nonetheless reaffirmed Tehran’s position against Israel and the US, saying Iran retains the right to respond to “American and Israeli aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws”.
Analysts say the dual message — affirming Iranian retaliation while urging restraint toward Gulf states — reflects the organisation’s competing dependencies.
Since 2007, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force has provided Hamas with between $100mn and $350mn annually in funding and military support, according to regional intelligence assessments cited by Western officials. The assistance has been delivered through a mixture of cash transfers, smuggling networks, intermediaries linked to Lebanon’s Hizbollah and, more recently, cryptocurrency channels.
The funding relationship endured multiple regional upheavals, including a rupture during the Syrian civil war in 2012 and a later reconciliation between the two sides. It also continued after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, which Israeli and US officials say involved coordination with Iranian strategic guidance — a claim Tehran denies.
But the widening conflict now threatens the broader political environment on which Hamas depends. By striking Gulf states that host Palestinian communities and play key diplomatic roles in Gaza negotiations, Iran risks damaging relationships that sustain Hamas beyond the battlefield.
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