Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Oct. 20, 2018 – In 1982, exploiting a political power vacuum in Lebanon, the Iranian regime sent in a thousand-man strong group of Revolutionary Guard agents into the country to train and equip a Shiite group that sided with Khomeini to create the terrorist Lebanon Hezbollah. The aim of the Iranian regime was to create a military and political presence in the heart of the Middle East for itself.
Hezbollah, Iran’s most important tool for spreading terrorism in the Middle East
Over the past 35 years, Hezbollah acted as the Iranian regime’s most important tool for spreading fundamentalism in the Middle East. Following are some of its most important roles in this regard:
- Participating in the Syrian war on behalf of the Iranian regime
- Delivering arms and missiles to and training Yemen’s Houthi militias
- Training Iraqi militias with ties to the Iranian regime
- Participating in terrorist attacks on a global level, like the bombing of AMIA, a Jewish center in Argentina’s Buenos Aires
Terrorist attacks on a global level, like the bombing of AMIA, a Jewish center in Argentina’s Buenos Aires
Hezbollah behind the murder of Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon’s former PM
After the 2005 terrorist attack in Lebanon that left its former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 21 others dead, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was created to carry out the investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators.
On March 1, 2009, the Tribunal officially opened. The four accused individuals are trialed in absentia. Their names are Mustafa Badreddine, Salim al-Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hassan Oneissi. The Tribunal is unique among international criminal tribunals in that it can hold trials in absentia, and it is the first to deal with terrorism as a distinct crime.
Hassan nasrolah & Ghassem soleimani
International and regional stances towards Hezbollah
The US first designated Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 1997. Canada, the Arab League, and the Gulf Cooperation Council followed suit with similar designations.
The Gulf Cooperation Council has blacklisted Hezbollah, it’s military wing, its leaders and its descendants and linked groups.
The European Union has blacklisted the military wing of Hezbollah. According to Reuters and AFP, Hezbollah’s terrorist activities on European soil has led the Union to blacklist it.
Diplomatic sources in Brussels indicate that Hezbollah’s activities to send militants to Syria to help Bashar al Assad has helped change the balance in favor of blacklisting the group in EU.
The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC), a US military think tank in West Point, published a report last August, calling on the European Union to include Hezbollah in its entirety in its list of terrorist organizations.
CTC’s report lists an ever-growing catalog of the Iranian regime’s terrorist attacks and activities in the region and on a global scale. Referring to the regime’s latest attempt to bomb an opposition political rally in Paris, CTC’s report calls on the European Union to include Hezbollah in its entirety in the Union’s list of terrorist organizations.
“The international response to Iran’s international terrorist activity should not be limited to law enforcement action alone. A regulatory action would also be helpful, and it is worth noting there have been calls for the European Union to designate not just Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group but to include the organization in its entirety, as well as expanded financial and diplomatic sanctions,” the report writes.
Referring to the Iranian terrorist diplomat that was recently detained in Europe the report concludes that, “in the wake of the Assadi affair, the State Department released timelines and maps depicting select incidents of Iranian-sponsored operational activities in Europe from 1979 to 2018, including both incidents involving Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, as well as those carried out by Iranian agents themselves. Developing an appreciation for the extent of Iranian operations in Europe over the years is important, and not just as some kind of academic exercise.”
Hezbollah’s financial sources
In addition to Iranian arms and money, Hezbollah makes money by trafficking illegal drugs to Europe and South America.
In a TV interview with an Iranian backed television, Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader openly admitted that Iran provides us with money, arms, missiles, food, and clothing.
