Top Hamas official in Iran?

Iran Focus Tehran, Iran, Jul. 10 – A top official of the armed Palestinian group Hamas may have set up camp in Iran, a semi-official daily reported on Sunday.

Khaled Mashaal, the political chief of Hamas, has left Syria, where he had been based for many years, the hard-line daily Jomhouri Islami wrote.

The report said that Palestinian sources confirmed that Mashaal had left Damascus earlier in the week but did not reveal where he was travelling to.

It quoted press reports as saying that the top Hamas official had moved to Iran, but added that Palestinian officials had not confirmed the report.

In April, Iran pledged to give the Palestinian Authority 50 million dollars in aid.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the contribution, which will go to the Hamas-led government, during a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran.

The U.S. and European Union have cut off financial aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won the elections.

Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently cited the victory of the Islamist group in the elections as a sign of the rise of Islamism in the world.