By Michael Slackman
Published: January 13, 2009
CAIRO: Late last month, Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared that anyone killed defending Palestinians in the Gaza Strip would be rewarded in heaven as a martyr. Young men began lining up - 70,000 in all - to go off and die.
But a week later Khamenei announced without explanation that no one was going anywhere to fight. "I thank the pious and devoted youth who have asked to go to Gaza," he said in a televised address. "But it must be noted that our hands are tied in this arena."
While the fighting continues in Gaza and negotiations for a cease-fire take place in Egypt, officials in Tehran are treading carefully because they, too, have a great deal at stake. Iran is trying to position itself as the regional superpower, while also trying to generate maximum leverage before expected talks with the administration of President Barack Obama.
But to achieve those goals, Iran needs Hamas to declare at least a moral victory in its war with Israel. In that event, Israel and Washington's Arab allies would be weakened, and without Iran's having to get involved in the battle.
Iran's leaders are leery of siding publicly with Hamas because of the potentially damaging consequences of an Israeli victory. A Hamas defeat by Israel would deprive Iran not only of a valuable proxy force on the border with Israel, but also of a trump card to play with Washington, and it would further alienate it from the leaderships of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Keeping a little distance from Hamas could help minimize the damage if Hamas loses.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/13/mideast/tehran.php
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