HAIFA (Press Release) — “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon is intended to remind all of Lebanon’s denominations that Iran will not tolerate any harm to Hezbollah’s power and status,” says Dr. Soli Shahvar, Director of the Ezri Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Haifa.
Hezbollah was established as a branch of the Iranian Revolution, Dr. Shahvar explains, and therefore the moment the Iranians sense that the organization’s status in Lebanon is in jeopardy – most recently following reports that Hezbollah will be accused of the Rafic Hariri assassination – the Iranian president made his way to Lebanon to remind everyone that they are in charge in Lebanon and will not tolerate any harm to their division there. The fact that this visit to Lebanon includes all of Lebanon’s ethnic groups, Dr. Shahvar added, does not reflect on the Iranian president’s courtesy and consideration for them, but the opposite: “It could be that his rhetoric has a positive tone, but he is in fact communicating that he will not allow any of them to harm Hezbollah’s status. This is a sort of step to ensure ‘protection’, as to warn the Lebanese groups to ‘watch out – I know where you live,'” Dr. Shahvar said.
As a reminder of the true relationship between Iran and Hezbollah, Dr. Shahvar points out the clip of Nasrallah that was recorded back in the 1980s. In this recording, which has been translated into English and is currently being distributed on the occasion of the Lebanon visit by the Israeli branch of MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research Institute – an independent, not-for-profit international organization that monitors the media for political and national matters in the Middle East), Nasrallah passionately talks about the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah.
He says that Hezbollah’s vision is to turn Lebanon into an Islamic republic that will not stand alone and will be subordinate to Iran. He states that ideologically, Hezbollah’s relationship with and subordination to the supreme religious leadership in Iran is obvious and cannot be challenged.
“Over the past few years, Nasrallah has been doing a lot of talking about the importance of Lebanese unity and emphasizing that Hezbollah continues to be Lebanon’s shield against Israel. But this clip reminds us what Hezbollah’s primary goal really is: to be an offshoot of the Iranian Revolution. This should be a reminder for all the people of Lebanon, who could be, once again, led into dangerous threat of another war,” Dr. Shahvar concluded.
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Preceding provided by the University of Haifa