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Alavi, Seyed Ali Iran's relations with Palestine : roots and development /. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/26490 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Iran’s Relations with Palestine: Roots and Development Seyed Ali Alavi Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2017 Department of Politics and International Studies School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1 Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood Regulation 21 of the General and Admissions Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: Seyed Ali Alavi Date: 2 For my Parents 3 Abstract Despite a growing body of literature on the Iranian Revolution and its impacts on the region, scholars largely neglected Iran's connections with Palestine. This thesis is intended to fill the lacuna in the literature and to assist readers to unpack a history of Iran's relations with Palestine. To this end, I analysed connections of the Iranian revolutionary movements both from the perspective of the Left and the Islamic camps. In order to provide a historical background to the post-revolutionary period which is why main focus, I trace the genealogy of pro-Palestinian sentiments before 1979 as well. Moreover, the main focus in this thesis is on the causes and roots of Iran's post-revolutionary state's pro-Palestinian stance. I attempt to demonstrate that the Iranian revolutionary movements championed pro-Palestinian ideas mainly based on their ideological outlook, and then in the interest of the state. 4 Acknowledgements It is an honour to have the opportunity to begin with by extending my immeasurable gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, whom without, this research would have not been possible. I will be forever wholeheartedly thankful to my father, Seyed Khaled, for all his support, words are unable to express my gratitude. I owe special thanks to Dr. Hussein Royvaran and his colleague Mr.Mohammad Amaanollah-zad for supporting me in Iran to conduct valuable interviews. I would like to thank the Palestinian delegates in Tehran, Mr. Nasser Abu-Sharif and Mr. Khaled Al-Qadoumi for their time and valuable words. I would like to especially thank Dr. Elaheh Rostami-Povey, Dr. Dina Mattar, Prof. Laleh Khalili and Dr. Ghonceh Tazmini for their valuable academic support. I am thankful to my partner, Zuzana Dytrt for her patience and moral support during years of my researach. I am blessed to be morally supported by my brothers Seyed Mohsen, Seyed Reza and Seyed Ghias and my sister, Seyedeh Farideh. Finally and most importantly, I am grateful to my mother, Adibeh, for her blessing and prayers. 5 Table of Contents _DECLARATION FOR SOAS PHD THESIS ............................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ 6 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 9 LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................................... 11 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .......................................................................................................... 28 The Main argument of the thesis ................................................................................................... 34 a) Islamic agenda: ......................................................................................................................... 35 b) Material Factors: ....................................................................................................................... 40 AN OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS ........................................................................................................ 44 CHAPTER ONE .......................................................................................................................... 46 IRAN‘S PRE-REVOLUTIONARY OPPOSITION AND THE PALESTINE CAUSE ..................................... 46 THE IRANIAN PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ―LEFT WING ―GUERRILLA MOVEMENTS AND PALESTINE .... 47 IRAN‘S PRE-REVOLUTIONARY ISLAMISTS AND THE PALESTINIAN CAUSE ..................................... 67 CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................................... 104 IRAN'S RELATIONS WITH PALESTINE DURING THE FIRST DECADE OF THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION 104 IRAN'S RELATIONS WITH THE PLO, 1979-1988: FROM REVOLUTIONARY ENGAGEMENT TO IDEOLOGICAL ESTRANGEMENT ................................................................................................... 105 THE PLO'S PERCEPTION OF THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION IN IRAN ................................................. 111 THE PERCEPTION OF THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION'S LEADERSHIP OF THE PALESTINIAN-CAUSE ... 113 IMPLEMENTING PRO-PALESTINIAN SLOGANS AS POLICY: INSTITUTIONALISING IRAN'S RELATIONS WITH PALESTINE FROM THE EARLY STAGES OF THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION ............................... 117 THE TAKEOVER OF THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN TEHRAN, AND PLO‘S ATTEMPT AT MEDIATION122 6 THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR IRAN-PLO RELATIONS ................................. 132 THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM PASSES THROUGH KARBALA; BATTLING BAATHISTS ALL THE WAY TO RESIST AGAINST ZIONISM ........................................................................................................... 140 THE ISRAELI INVASION OF LEBANON IN 1982, THE FAHD PEACE PLAN, AND THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC'S RESPONSE .................................................................................................................................... 148 The Fahd Peace Plan .................................................................................................................... 154 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................... 161 IRAN'S RELATIONS WITH PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD .............................................................. 161 Islamic Jihad – A New Page in the Palestinian Struggle ............................................................. 161 Shiqaqi's Books – the Ideological Manifesto of Palestinian Islamic Jihad .................................. 166 The Importance of Iran and the Centrality of the Palestinian Cause in the Ideas of Palestinian Islamic Jihad ............................................................................................................................................. 181 The Intifada of 1987: The Islamic Dimension of the Palestinian Struggle .................................. 184 CHAPTER FOUR ..................................................................................................................... 193 RELATIONS BETWEEN IRAN AND HAMAS (1987-2011) – STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP, SHARED VALUES, AND IDEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES ................................................................................................ 193 The First Intifada and the Emergence of Hamas ......................................................................... 194 Iran‘s Strategic Alliance with Hamas from 1987 to 2006: a New Page in the Palestinian Struggle199 Sheikh Yassin's historic visit to Iran ............................................................................................ 209 The Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon and the Second Palestinian Intifada ...................... 211 Hamas Government: A new Page in Iran's Relations with the Islamic Resistance Movement ... 220 Israel‘s War on Gaza (2008–2009) and Iran‘s Reaction .............................................................. 225 CHAPTER FIVE ....................................................................................................................... 232 IRAN AND PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN THE POST-ARAB SPRING ERA ...................... 232 Iran and Syria: A History of Alliances, and the Champions of the Axis of Resistance .............. 233 Political Turbulence within the Axis of Resistance: the Syrian uprising .................................... 239 Iran, Hamas