Entrenching the Middle East
Since the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has been working to disseminate its ideology across the globe by establishing, funding, and arming terror proxies to enforce the same radical ideology. A cornerstone of Iran’s and its proxies’ ideology is the encroachment and destruction of the State of Israel.
23.11.20
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Iran has several terror proxies across the Middle East including: Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, Shi’ite militias in Syria and Iraq, and the Houthis in Yemen.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force—a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces—is responsible for extraterritorial operations and managing Iran’s proxies abroad. The Quds Force was headed by Major General Qasem Soleimani until January 2020 when he was killed in a US military operation. Soleimani was replaced by his deputy, Brigadier General Esmail Qaani.
Hezbollah terror organization
Photo: AP
Hezbollah in Lebanon:
Hezbollah, a Shi’ite terrorist organization, emerged in Lebanon in 1982 in the midst of the Lebanese Civil War as a militia propped up by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy that helps disseminate and carry out its extremist ideology throughout Lebanon and the world. Iran provides Hezbollah with over $700 million a year[1] and trains them through the elite IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Quds Force, which supports and cultivates Iranian-backed proxies across the Middle East. Hezbollah has been led by Hassan Nasrallah since 1992.
Hezbollah has carried out bombings and kidnappings, fired rockets at Israeli civilians, started a war with Israel, and built underground terror infrastructure and tunnels from Lebanon into Israel—all in Iran’s name. In recent years, Iran has been attempting to arm Hezbollah with precision guided missile technology to enable Hezbollah to launch targeted attacks on Israeli civilians and strategic targets; this venture has gone so far that precision guided missiles manufacturing centers operate underneath civilian residential buildings in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon. In addition, during Operation Northern Shield, the IDF exposed Hezbollah terror tunnels dug from southern Lebanon into northern Israel which can be read about here.
Hamas terror organization
Photo: Reuters
Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza:
Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni Islamist terror organization, was initially founded in 1987 as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza. Since 2007, Hamas has controlled the Gaza. Although Hamas is a Sunni organization, Hamas’ location in Gaza and its proximity to Israel makes it an ideal ally—and proxy—for Iran. Iran provides the terror organization with approximately $80 million annually. Despite Hamas’ responsibility over the civilian population of the Gaza Strip, most of the money provided by Iran goes to funding terror attacks and operations against Israel, instead of helping Palestinian civilians. In addition to monetary support, Iran supplies weapons and ammunition, including rockets, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and mortars to Hamas[2] to be used for attacks against Israel.
Islamic Jihad (IJ) is the terrorist organization in Gaza with the longest and closest ties to Iran. Founded in 1981, IJ was heavily inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. IJ’s relationship with Iran was strengthened in the late 1980s, after the group’s leadership moved from Egypt to Lebanon, where Hezbollah was already based. There, IJ cultivated a partnership with the IRGC and Hezbollah, which provided it with training and arms. Today, Iran continues to supply IJ with weapons and approximately $70 million annually in funding which have been and continue to be used to target Israeli civilians through various terror attacks and operations.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2019.
Photo: AP
Iran in Syria:
Unlike Hezbollah, Hamas, or the Islamic Jihad, Iran’s command over Syria is not tied to the utilization of a terrorist proxy. Rather, Iran has directly entrenched itself in Syria where the IRGC Quds Force and the Iranian regime maintain significant influence over the political and military actions of Syria.
Iran’s relationship with Syria stems from the first years after the Iranian Revolution. The only Arab country to publicly support Iran during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), the Assad regime has built a close ideological affinity with the Iranian regime. The relationship between the two countries strengthened when Bashar al-Assad inherited Syria’s presidency from his father in the year 2000. Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, became mentors to the inexperienced Syrian ruler.
Since 2011, Iran has taken advantage of the instability in Syria and bolstered its influence over Syria. During the conflict, the Assad regime became increasingly dependent on the Iranian regime to maintain power over the region. Sending troops from the IRGC and Hezbollah to fight in the Syrian conflict, Iran was able to increasingly entrench itself in Syria. As a consequence, Iran, and its proxy Hezbollah, have taken this as an opportunity to establish military bases in Syria close to Israel’s northern border.
Timeline of Iranian Terror from Syria:
Since the beginning of 2018, the Iranian Quds Force and its militias have launched or attempted to launch nine separate attacks on Israel using Syria as a launchpad:
February 10, 2018: An Iranian UAV, armed with explosives, infiltrated Israeli airspace after being launched from Syria.
May 9, 2018: The Quds Force launched approximately 20 rockets from Syria at Israel.
January 20, 2019: The Quds Force fired an Iranian-made rocket from Syria at Israel.
August 24, 2019: The IDF preemptively foiled a Quds Force attack to launch killer drones from Syria into Israel.
September 9, 2019: Shiite militants operating under Iranian instructions fired a number of rockets at Israel from Syria.
November 19, 2019: Iranian forces fired four rockets at Israel from Syria.
March 2, 2020: The IDF thwarted a joint Syrian Armed Forces and Hezbollah plan to attack IDF soldiers in the Golan Heights.
August 2, 2020: The IDF thwarted an attempt by four terrorists to place an improvised explosive device (IED) by the Israeli security fence.
November 17, 2020: The IDF identified and thwarted an Iranian led Syrian attack to place IEDs on Israeli territory.
Not just threatening to destabilize the entire Middle East, Iran and its proxies pose a threat to the entire world. From the AMIA bombing in Argentina which Hezbollah orchestrated that took over 80 lives to bombings in the Gallery of Lafayette in France, Iran and its proxies will stop at nothing to cause destruction and further its malice agenda.
The IDF is committed to operating and combating Iranian threats and aggression toward Israel no matter which proxy attempts to carry them out.
[1] https://www.state.gov/countering-irans-global-terrorism/
