Iran Rearms Hezbollah

Iran Rearms Hezbollah

Hezbollah was established in Lebanon in 1982 by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.In its early days, Hezbollah had a contingent of some 2,000 men sent to Lebanon to aid the resistance against Israel. [1]

In its founding statement, Hezbollah declared itself committed to the “creation of an Islamic republic in Lebanon.” Tehran then sent hundreds of clerics and Revolutionary Guards to Lebanon to preach Iranian theology and draft recruits. [2]

Sponsorship and training

• Hezbollah receives substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives, political, diplomatic, and organizational aid from Iran and Syria. Iran probably provides financial and military assistance worth about $25-50 million. Hezbollah is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran, but has the capability and willingness to act independently. [3]

• “The Iranians through their Syrian portals have invested $30 billion to turn Hezbollah into Iran’s military branch in the Mediterranean. […] The Shia movement has 40,000 to 50,000 missiles, good military training, social and sanitary structures and an Iranian-modeled society. Among the Shia civilians, more are dressing like Iranians and repeating the same slogans.” [4]

• Underscoring the heightened recognition of Iran as a dangerous player, on July 18, 2006, then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused Iran of supporting Hezbollah with weapons, “very similar if not identical to those used against British troops in Basra” in Iraq. Blair also accused Syria of supporting Iran “in many different ways” and both countries of providing financial support. Israel, the United States, the Europeans, and many Arab states have long claimed that Hezbollah receives its weaponry from Iran, a claim that many Iranian officials admit in private is true. [5]

• Lebanon’s Finance Minister Jihad Azour acknowledged that Iranian money is going directly to Hezbollah. [6]

• Senior Hezbollah official Kassam Allaik said Iran had its own groups in Lebanon, rebuilding bridges, roads, and mosques. [7]

• In May 2008, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah thanked Mottaki for his country's support of Hezbollah. [8]

• Kuwait’s Al-Siyassah newspaper, a mouthpiece for the Syrian opposition, reported that during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and a top Iranian official met in Damascus, discussing how to re-equip Hezbollah with “Iranian arms flowing through Syrian territories.” [9]

• Kim Howells, Britain’s foreign office minister for the Middle East, is also certain Iran is providing Hezbollah with money, rockets and firearms by way of Syria. “One wonders if they [Iran] could ever succumb to the diplomatic temptation to renounce their support of Hezbollah when it is the one really effective military force they’ve got in that region outside Iran themselves,” Howells told an emergency meeting of the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. [10]

• In a July 2006 interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, French President Jacques Chirac said, “Information we have proves that sophisticated weapons and financing are sent by Iran, via Syria in all probability, to Hezbollah. It’s a problem.” [11]

• A member of Hezbollah’s political council told the Russian daily Izvestia that Iran and Syria aided the group in its war against Israel, saying, “They [Iran and Syria] are our allies, and we’re proud of that. These states made a perceptible contribution to our victory over Israel.” [12]

• Hezbollah’s founder Ali Akbar Mohatashemi said Hezbollah fought for Iran not only in Lebanon, but also in its war with Iraq: “Part of Hezbollah’s skill goes back to its experience fighting and training… soldiers from Hezbollah fought amongst our troops or separately.” More than 100,000 Hezbollah fighters have undergone military training both in Iran and Lebanon since the group was formed. [13]

Aiding Iran’s Expansionist Ambition:Lebanon

• Hezbollah’s fundamental goal in Lebanon is the "establishment of an Islamic state that provides political expression to the Shiite majority and a complete Iranian takeover of Lebanon." [14]

• Hezbollah has not hesitated to use its weapons to advance political aims: A year ago, it sent armed militants into the streets of Beirut to assert political power. [15] A recent report accused Hezbollah of having been involved in the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. [16]

• The Lebanese Sunni Grand Mufti, Muhammad Rashid Qabbani, said that with these recent attacks, Iran was threatening the union of the Muslims in Lebanon. He called Hezbollah "an armed gang of unlawful" which have carried out "ugly attacks" against the citizens of Lebanon. Shiite clerics however defended Tehran and accused the Lebanese government for the escalation. [17]

• Iran-backed Hezbollah is the strongest member of Lebanon's pro-Syrian opposition bloc. [18]

• One of the most important consequences of the July 2006 war in Lebanon is the rise of public support for Hezbollah and the decrease of support for the Siniora government. [19] After talks in Qatar on May 21, 2008, rival Lebanese leaders, the Western-backed government and the pro-Syrian opposition, agreed to end an 18-month political feud that nearly drove the country to a new civil war. [20] The deal covers the election of army chief Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government and a ban on the use of weapons in any internal conflict. [21] Under the deal, the opposition - led by the Hezbollah political and militant group - will have veto power within a new cabinet of national unity.

• Analysts say the agreement is a major triumph for Hezbollah, whose key demands are met. Hezbollah refuses to give up any of its military capability, arguing that it is essential in the struggle against Israel. [22]

• Iran has been skilful in its political expansion. The Doha agreements confirm this. Success for Hezbollah means success for Iran. [23] The new rules of the game in Lebanon have granted Hezbollah de facto control over the country. [24] Lebanon will likely be unable to resolve its own domestic problems while Iran continues to try to build up its strategic position across the country. [25]

• Leading European officials have repeatedly cited close ties between Iran and Hezbollah. European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana told Spain’s El Pais that Hezbollah must “choose between being a responsible force in Lebanese politics or a beachhead for Iran.” [26]

• The Iranian president asked his interlocutor to send his regards to Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and the organization's membership. [27]

• Many Lebanese are worried that Hezbollah could turn Lebanon into another Gaza as Hezbollah is trained, armed and financially supported by Iran. [28]

Destabilizing Arab Regimes

• Arab governments are increasingly concerned about Hezbollah’s growing "fingerprints" [29] all over the Middle East.

• Tensions are also on the rise between Hezbollah and Egypt. In April 2009, Egyptian police arrested dozens of suspects in the Sinai Peninsula, where officials say Hezbollah was operating a covert cell. Egyptian officials believe that Iran is "using Hezbollah as a proxy to destabilize a regional rival and major US ally, part of its wider push to establish itself as the dominant player in the region." [30] Egypt’s largest state-owned paper, Al Ahram, reported that Sami Shehab, the Hezbollah agent identified by Hassan Nasrallah and who Nasrallah said was sent to Egypt to support smuggling efforts to militants in Gaza, confessed: "Hezbollah leadership would arrange the full cost of carrying out terrorist operations in Egypt […]." [31]

Fighting Against Israel

• Hezbollah has fought Israel more than once. It fought the Jewish state in Southern Lebanon from the group’s inception in 1982 until Israel withdrew in 2000. Then in 2006 Hezbollah sparked a 33-day war with Israel when its fighters crossed the Israeli border to kidnap two soldiers and bombarded Israeli towns with rockets. Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers were found, along with Hezbollah troops, among the dead, according to identification papers found on their bodies. [32]

• In the 2006 war, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded Iranian parliament ministers display the yellow and green Hezbollah flag on their desks to show support for the fighters. [33]

Disrupting Middle East Peace Talks

• Hezbollah and Iran are major obstacles for peace talks in the Middle East. Martin Indyk a lobbyist and former United States ambassador to Israel, said, “If the White House engages with Syria, it immediately puts pressure on Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.” He said that he had repeatedly sought, without success, to convince the Bush Administration that it was possible to draw Syria away from Iran. In his recent memoir, “Innocent Abroad,” Indyk wrote, “There is a deep divergence between Iran and Syria, captured in the fact that at the same time as Iran’s president threatens to wipe Israel off the map, his Syrian ally is attempting to make peace with Israel. . . . Should negotiations yield a peace agreement, it would likely cause the breakup of the Iranian-Syrian axis.” When we spoke, he added, referring to Assad, “It will not be easy for him to break with Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran, but he cannot get a peace deal unless he does. But, if he feels that things are moving in the Middle East, he will not want to be left behind.” [34]

• Indeed, Iran has been pushing to fail the resolution of the Arab-Israeli dispute by forging new ties with Hamas and deepening its relationship with Hezbollah. [35]

• Senior terror leaders in Gaza, including militants from Palestinian Authority President Abbas's Fatah party, admitted they are working to copy Hezbollah warfare tactics: “We are turning Gaza into south Lebanon,” Abu Ahmed, northern Gaza leader for the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist group, said. He also said: “We are importing rockets and the knowledge to launch them and we are also making many plans for battle." [36]

• Ahmed added: “We have warm relations with Hezbollah, which helps with some of the training programs…We don’t have anything to be ashamed of—that we are dealing with Hezbollah and that we are receiving training and information from them.” [37]

Perpetrating Terror Activities against Europeans

• Hezbollah arrived in the European Union in the 1980s, along with refugees from Lebanon’s civil war. [38]

• In the 1980s, Hezbollah carried out a sweeping program of terror. It kidnapped over 200 foreign civilian nationals in Lebanon, including Britons Terry Waite and John McCarthy It organized dramatic hijackings of civilian aircraft and launched attacks against American and European civilian targets, killing about 1,000 people. [39]

• Hezbollah is poised to launch bloody reprisals in Britain for any Western attack on Iran, Richard Kemp, a former British intelligence chief, warned in November 2007. Kemp said the Iranian-backed group had established sleeper cells in London to carry out revenge attacks. He said: “The big question is how capable Hezbollah groups are in Europe. What I can say is that Hezbollah is probably the world’s most effective terrorist organization, and that includes Al Qaeda.” [40]

• Though a 2005 European Parliament resolution recommended the banning of the Iranian-funded group, it is still recognized as a legal organization on the Continent. In Germany alone there are 900 Hezbollah supporters known to security authorities. [41]
France, Spain, Belgium and Sweden are preventing the EU from designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. [42]

Perpetrator of Terror Activities in America

• Hezbollah organized the hijacking of civilian aircraft and launched attacks against American and European targets, killing about 1,000 people. [43] Until September 11, 2001 Hezbollah was responsible for more American deaths than any terror organization.

• Hezbollah has taken root in South America, fostering a well-financed force of Islamist radicals boiling with hatred for the United States and ready to die to prove it, according to militia members, U.S. officials, and police agencies across the continent. From its Western base in the Tri-border Area, or Triple Frontier, a remote region that borders Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, Hezbollah has mined the frustrations of many Muslims among about 25,000 Arab residents whose families immigrated largely from Lebanon. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Tri-border has become a top-level recruiting ground, particularly as tension mounts with Iran, Hezbollah’s main sponsor. [44]

• Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight others are wanted by Argentina for the July 18, 1994 Hezbollah bombing of a Jewish cultural centre that killed 85 people and wounded more than 200, Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack. Among those implicated by Argentina are former Iranian intelligence chief Ali Fallahian, former leader of the elite Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezaei, and the late Hezbollah militant Imad Mughnieh, previously one of the world’s most sought terror suspects. [45]

In late 2006, an Argentinean special prosecutor released a detailed report, issuing arrest warrants for high-level Iranian officials and Hezbollah members involved in the attack. The Argentinean investigation concluded that Tehran transferred at least $152,812 to accounts controlled by Mohsen Rabbani, a Shiite cleric who at the time held diplomatic immunity as a cultural attache at the Iranian embassy in Buenos Aires. [46]

For References see:

http://www.realite-eu.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=9dJBLLNkGiF&b=2315291&ct=7246097