Palestinian intelligence chief Tawfiq Tirawi on Sunday accused Iran of close involvement in Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza, saying Tehran funded the Islamic militants and trained hundreds of them.

Tirawi said the battle for Gaza earlier this month had been carefully orchestrated and was a joint program with Iran.

In implied criticism of Syria, he noted that Hamas' leadership is based there, and said that a month before the Gaza fighting, the Syrian-based Hamas leaders and the heads of the Hamas military wing met in an undisclosed Arab capital. In this meeting, Tirawi said, they discussed all the details of the operation.

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Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed the allegations of Hamas-Iran cooperation as baseless fabrication, and denied Hamas fighters had been trained in Iran.

On Saturday, Hamas hardliner Mahmoud Zahar was quoted as telling German news magazine Der Spiegelthat he had personally carried $42 million in cash from Iran across the Gaza-Egypt border.

Tirawi warned that Hamas militants are hoarding weapons in the West Bank, and might try to target Palestinian government installations there. Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, members of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement have targeted Hamas activists in the West Bank, a Fatah stronghold. Hamas has also threatened to take the battle between the rival groups to the West Bank.

Iran on Sunday denied rendering any financial assistance to Hamas, reiterating that its support for the group is merely of a "spiritual" nature.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed-Ali Hosseini said that whatever financial aid rendered by Iran was for the sake of the Palestinian nation and not any particular group.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Rida Bakery following talks in Damascus on Sunday expressed "regret" over the situation in the territories.

Bakery told reporters following discussions with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara that the talks focused on regional issues, especially concerning the Palestinian situation.

"We extremely regret their [Fatah and Hamas] inter-fighting and separation," said Bakery.

The Iranian official, who arrived in Syria on Friday, held talks Saturday with a number of Damascus-based Palestinians, including Hamas political leader Khaled Meshal, and Abbas' personal envoy, Abbas Zaki.

Palestinian and Iranian sources told said that the talks covered the current standoff between Fatah and Hamas, and the need to secure an end to the infighting.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, underscored the importance of dialogue between Hamas and Fatah but called for an investigation of Abbas' dissolution of the unity coalition and establishment of an emergency government of independents.

"we need an overall revision of all measures taken by Abbas because they are illegal and illegitimate and instigated by the United States and Israel," Marzouk said.

Marzouk criticized Abbas for rejecting talks with Hamas, calling his stance "unwise and irresponsible."