Iran and Region-wide backing of Hezbollah

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The Syrian Ally
Lebanese Ally
Iran and Hezbollah in the Gulf Region
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Iran has turned out to be one of the major players as regards to the Gulf security and stability. This means that its role as a key player in the region can no longer be disregarded. Scholars observe that the 1979 revolution that took place in various states in the Middle East shaped the geo-politics of the region.

Iran emerged strong from the revolution, which gave it an advantage in terms of political influence. The state was able to export its ideas to other countries, which threatened the survival of other powerful states in the region, such as Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, the region was transformed by the Iran-Iraq war, as well as the nuclear crisis witnessed in Iran (Jorisch 12). In 1971, Iran acquired three islands belonging to UAE and it is reluctant to negotiate over the islands.

As one way of flexing its muscles, Iran has been trying to influence the region politically, culturally and socially through vigilant restructuring and scheduling. Through this, it has been attempting to spread its ideas in the Gulf region.

The state has been mobilizing the revolutionary agents and coordinating the activities of sleeper cells in the neighbouring states such as Syria and Lebanon. These activities took effect after president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took power in 2005. It should be noted that by 1979, the Shah, who enjoyed close diplomatic ties with the US, ruled Iran.

In the same year, the Shah was overthrown by an Islamic radical group, which turned Iran into an Islamic state ruled by a spiritual leader referred to as the Ayatollah. The spiritual leaders were keen to spread Islamic values all over the region.

Since then, Iran has been reluctant to accept western values, which insist that women are to be treated in the same way as men. Therefore, the state has always assisted other groups trying to fight the west. It is not surprising that Iran has been funding illegal groups and unpopular regimes that are undemocratic.

This paper will therefore evaluate the interests of Iran in the Gulf region and its position in the international system. The paper will analyze how Iran has been funding and supporting the activities of the Hezbollah, which is against the wishes of the international community.

In this case, it should be noted that Iran does not fund the Hezbollah out of good will but its main aim is to achieve the national interests. In this case, states are always interested in national interests implying that in whatever they do, they must satisfy their wishes and desires.

The Syrian Ally

For many years, Iran has always sided with Syria over important issues affecting the region and the world. Furthermore, the two states have always shared strong military and financial links. Through this partnership, the two states have been able to achieve similar goals such as resisting the requests related to democracy from the international community (Ranstorp 31).

The two states have been accused variously for violating human rights and freedoms but nothing has changed since then. For instance, when the Syrian populace rose to challenge the government for being inhuman and indifferent to the needs of the people, the highest decision making organ in the Mullah regime in Tehran promised to provide logistical support to the distressed Alawite regime.

The Tehran organ promised to help the Alawite regime to quell violence that had rocked various cities. Tehran could not let the Bashar al-Assad regime go since it is very important as far as Tehran’s interests are concerned.

Tehran aspires to maintain its role in the Gulf region and make sure that al-Assad’s regime remains in power in order to further the interests of Hezbollah and other affiliates of Iranian-Palestinian organizations.

By scrutinizing the foreign policies of Iran towards neighbouring states, one is able to note that the state is concerned about support for Syria in order to safeguard the interests of Hezbollah, which has the same aims as those of Iran. In Iran, the government has always claimed that the international community is destabilizing the government of Syria for undisclosed reasons.

In this regard, the Iranian government has assured Syria of its support in order to safeguard the Hezbollah. The two states that is, Syria and Iran, signed a mutual agreement promising to help each other economically and militarily. Following the agreement, the Iranian government sent out a number of revolutionary agents to the cities of Syria to monitor the progress of the revolution.

The main aim of Iran is to ensure that the ongoing revolution does not succeed. Restoration of democracy would allow foreigners to establish businesses and other organizations in Syria, which would make it hard for the Hezbollah and Iran to achieve their missions.

Democracy would expose the state to foreign domination and the values of Islam would be interfered with, something that both the Iranian government and the Hezbollah highly detest. Following this, the Iranian authorities coordinated with the security forces of Syria to dislodge any plans of the protesters.

Iran realized that Syria alone could not provide the necessary protection to the Hezbollah. Therefore, it had to intervene in order to safeguard its regional interests, which are closely related to those of the Hezbollah (Sankari 11).

Iran has been keen to ensure that Syria succeeds in pushing aside the requests of the population. Assad entered into a bilateral agreement with the Iran’s Supreme Guide in order to end the riots. The Iranian government accepted to pay the military for six months and provide weapons when necessary.

This was aimed at security the economy of Syria since the state was spending too much on weapons and the salaries of soldiers. In August 2011, the government of Iran was shown a green light when it was permitted to construct a military base near the Latakia airport.

This was aimed at easing the process of transferring weapons from Tehran to Damascus. The Iranian government promised the Syrian regime to respond to any attacks from Israel, as well as from other enemies.

The presence of Iranian forces in Syria has in fact complicated the Middle East conflict system. Other states are unwilling to participate in toppling the Assad administration since Iran would retaliate. Iran perceives the west as being behind the instabilities witnessed in Syria.

The Gulf States have come to the realization that Iran is willing and is ready to destabilize the region using the Syrian revolution. The states have not been able to intervene either peacefully or military due to the presence of Iran.

In fact, Iran is more cautious because the international community has taken sides in the matter. In fact, the Iranian regime can resist the Gulf pressure but it cannot withstand the pressure from the American and European powers.

It can be observed that Iran will have to accept changes in the Syrian administration and prepare to face sanctions from the international community in case China and Russia fail to veto the decision of other powers (Saad-Ghorayeb 90).

Lebanese Ally

Iran has always employed a regional policy as regards to Lebanon and Hezbollah. In other words, the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah population in Lebanon depends on the politics of the Gulf region. Iran has some fears over the consequences left by interior and exterior actors on the Hezbollah.

Iran is much concerned about the indictment of Lebanon by the special tribunal over the murder of the former premier Rafiq Hariri, the plans concerning Hezbollah weapons in the region, and the representation of the Hezbollah in the Lebanon government.

There is a looming conflict between the Hezbollah and other parties regarding the March 8 and 14 coalition agreements. These interests have led Iran to devise methods that would help the Hezbollah counter the enemies.

The Iranian Mullahs established the Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1980s. Since then the foreign Policies of Iran towards Lebanon, especially towards the party of God, has been influenced by the presence of Hezbollah. Iran considers Hezbollah as its surrogate in the Lebanese state and the Gulf region as a whole.

The Iranian administrations have always used the Hezbollah to export the Shea values and beliefs to other states in the region (Hala 89). In other words, Iran has been able to establish itself as one of the powerful states in the region due to the presence of Hezbollah in various parts of the region.

Through the Hezbollah, Iran has achieved its major goals and is intending to capitalize on the presence of the community in various parts to further its interests. Research shows that there are many Iranian Shiites in the Gulf region, who are closely linked to the Hezbollah.

In countries where the Hezbollah controls decision-making, the Iranian government has always pledged support and to eliminate any form of opposition emanating from within or without the state boundaries.

The international community, Israel in particular, has always tried to neutralize and challenge the power of Hezbollah in various parts of the region. Israel is keen to prevent a war similar to that, which took place in 2006 that damaged Israeli superiority and undermined the image of its disincentive capacities.

Iran and Hezbollah in the Gulf Region

Previous inconsistencies between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as topical regional revolutions have made Iran to come up with methods that would strengthen the Hezbollah on all fronts. Furthermore, the state of Iran is preparing for a counter attack in case the international community decides to strike, particularly due to its nuclear energy strategy.

In places such as Lebanon and Bekaa valley, the government of Iran established military bases and dug underground tunnels that would be used to store weapons (Qassem 24). In Lebanon, Iranian government has been training military forces, which would be used to resist any incursion to the Hezbollah community.

In fact, Hezbollah members have been trained on how they can launch a missile, as well as how to make bombs. Data reveals that more than 1600 Hezbollah extremists were taken to Iran to participate in military training with the revolutionary agents.

Even after receiving sanctions from the international community, Iran has always supported the activities of the Hezbollah in the Gulf region. For instance, Iran has been supplying the Hezbollah in various regions with the communication and wiretapping equipments.

In fact, these instruments have been installed in various parts of Lebanon to help contain any external aggression. The houses of experts and diplomats working in various countries have been targeted mostly.

Iran is determined to maintain the supremacy of Hezbollah in the region since it has reinforced its role in Southern Lebanon, by providing weapons and other equipments of war.

Furthermore, funds have also been availed to the Hezbollah in order to acquire properties in places considered to be inhabited by Christians. These places would be converted to military bases when the time comes.

Iran has been influencing its neighbours to accept the position and activities of the Hezbollah in the region. In Lebanon, Iran has always interfered with political processes by proving technical information and resources to the Hezbollah candidates.

In the international system, Iran encourages the Hezbollah to oppose the decision of the international organizations. For instance, it requested the Lebanese government to question the credibility of the Special Tribunal put in place by the ICC to investigate the government of Lebanon.

In Lebanon still, the Iranian authorities have emerged to help the Hezbollah contain the influence of the Lebanese Sunni leader Saad Hariri (Harik 31). The officials of Iran have urged the Lebanese Hezbollah to expose the weaknesses of Hariri in order to cut him from the international community, which provides funds and knowledge to him.

In Lebanon, Iran requested the Hezbollah officials to embrace the Sunni leaders in order to form a strong relationship that would withstand the national and the international pressure. Following this, the Hezbollah incorporated the leader of Murabitun and the president of the National Nasserist Organization into their plans.

This was aimed at expanding the political influence of the Hezbollah. Furthermore, this would allow the Hezbollah to acquire many cabinet positions.

This benefit of collaborating with the Murabitun was realized when the Hezbollah vice director of military intelligence was given the post of the director general in charge of general security (Nizar 4). The president opposed this move but the Hezbollah won the seat since the majority supported it.

For the last few decades, the Iran-Hezbollah relationship in the Gulf region has shaped the security and political dynamics. Hezbollah is a radical group, a political party and a theological pressure group in the Gulf region. It managed to bring together various factions in an attempt to suppress the power of the United States and Israel in the region.

Middle East scholars such as Cambanis observe that people in the region have been influenced by the Hezbollah ideas and are willing to die for the group’s apocalyptic values. Other observers such as Samaha, who is the Lebanon’s minister of information, claim that Hezbollah is a legal group that tries to fight for the rights of the Muslims in the region.

Such observers claim that the role of Hezbollah and Iran is to defend the Arab land against external aggressors such as Israel. A report released in Beirut in 2006 claimed that the majority of Lebanese support the activities of the Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has continued to shape the foreign policies of many states including the US. In the US, Hezbollah is viewed as a terrorist group that should not be tolerated in the world. In 2011 for instance, the bipartisan members of the congress came up with a bill referred to as the Hezbollah Anti-Terrorism Act.

The act would ensure that no American Aid reaches the Hezbollah. In Europe, the European Union parliament treats the Hezbollah in the same way as the Hamas. In other words, the two groups are viewed as terrorist groups.

However, the European powers such as Britain, Spain and France have been reluctant to slap sanctions to the group since it would derail the Middle East peace talks. Therefore, it can be observed that the activities of the group have been felt globally. What is clear is that various regions view the activities of the group differently.

The neighbouring states such as Iran, Syria and Lebanon perceive the Hezbollah group as a blessing to the region since it fights for the rights of Muslims. In other parts, the group’s activities are illegal (Norton 3).

Conclusion

It can be concluded that Iran has always supported the activities of the Hezbollah mainly because it has the same interests as those of Iran. The main objective of the two is to dominate the Gulf region by keeping away the influence of Israel and the west.

Middle East states such as Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine believe that Israel is the problem. The states accuse the west for planting Israel in the region yet they did not participate in dispersing the Jews during the Second World War. Therefore, the relationship between Iran and the Hezbollah is expected to persist as long as the western countries continue supporting Israel.

Works Cited

Hala, Jaber. Hezbollah. Colombia: Columbia University Press, 1997. Print.

Harik, Palmer. Hezbollah: The Changing Face of Terrorism. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2006. Print.

Jorisch, Avi. Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballahs Al-Manar Television. Washington: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2004. Print.

Nizar, Hamzeh. In The Path of Hezbollah. Damascus: Syracuse University Press, 2004. Print.

Norton, Richard. Hezbollah of Lebanon: Extremist Ideals vs. Mundane Politics. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 2000. Print

Norton, Richard. Hezbollah: A Short History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. Print.

Qassem, Naim. Hizbullah: The Story from Within. Damascus: Saqi Books, 2005. Print.

Ranstorp, Magnus. Hizb’Allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Print.

Saad-Ghorayeb, Amal. Hizbullah: Politics and Religion. London: Pluto Press, 2001. Print.

Sankari, Jamal. Fadlallah: The Making of a Radical Shi’ite Leader. Damascus: Saqi Books, 2005. Print.

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