But they'd never train Al Qaeda..does that sound like hope?

GERTZ: Iran trains Hamas operatives to reverse-engineer rockets

GAZA CITY -- Palestinian sources said Iran has completed training of at least 50 Hamas operatives in missile and rocket development and production.

The sources said the operatives, who came to Teheran with technical skills, were taught how to reverse-engineer the advanced rockets smuggled into the Gaza Strip over the last year.

BM-21 Grad rocket

"The training is how to take the components of one rocket and use it to improve an existing model, or simply how to reverse-engineer a rocket so you can produce it yourself," a Palestinian source in the Gaza Strip said. "This has become a key area of expertise for Hizbullah."

The sources said the Iranian effort was meant to overcome obstacles by Hamas in enhancing its Kassam-class missile arsenal. Hamas has encountered difficulties in extending the Kassam past the current range of about 17 kilometers.

Another difficulty addressed by the Iranians was how to produce the BM-21 Grad rocket. In February 2008, Hamas fired its first salvos of Grads into the Israeli city of Ashkelon, which contains strategic sites.

The sources said Hamas operatives worked in rocket production facilities in Teheran and were taught how to execute blueprints and technical diagrams. They said Iran also identified ways to enhance the Kassam missile.

Iran has already trained Islamic Jihad to produce the Quds rocket, said to have a range of 18 kilometers. The rocket, capable of striking most of Ashkelon, has a smaller warhead than Grad.

"The standard has become the Grad," the source said. "Besides its extended range, it is much more powerful than the Kassam."

The sources said Hamas has become alarmed by the Egyptian crackdown on smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip. In March, Egypt destroyed several weapons tunnels that spanned the divided city of Rafah.

Iran has sought to smuggle the Grads as well as its variant, Nour, from Lebanon to either the Sinai city of El Arish or the Gaza Strip. But the sources said the size of the shipments were regarded as too small to sustain any conflict with Israel.

In February, at least 200 Hamas operatives trained in Iran returned to the Gaza Strip via Sinai. The sources said Iran has trained Hamas and Hizbullah fighters in the same facilities to increase interoperability. Iran has also trained the Syrian-sponsored Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.

Teheran has also trained Hamas in asymmetrical warfare, meant to block the advance of a much larger Israeli military. The sources said Hamas fighters were instructed in the use of anti-tank guided missiles, improvised explosive devices, anti-aircraft weapons and night fighting.