Free_Iran_Now

Testimony before the U.S. House of RepresentativesSubcommittee on International Terrorism and NonproliferationandSubcommittee on the Middle East and Central AsiaIlan BermanVice President for PolicyAmerican Foreign Policy CouncilSeptember 28, 2006Chairman Royce, Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen, distinguished members of theSubcommittees:Thank you for your invitation to appear before you today. It is a privilege to discussthe capabilities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, and the worldwide threat nowposed by this group.It is not possible to understand Hezbollah without exploring the group’s relationshipwith its midwife and chief sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran. Today, Hezbollahmay have carved out a unique role in regional politics, simultaneously styling itself asthe region’s preeminent “resistance” organization and a legitimate Lebanese politicalparty. Yet ideologically, economically and politically, its fortunes remain intimatelytied to those of the Iranian regime.IDEOLOGYHezbollah represents the first and most successful example of Iran’s central foreignpolicy principle: the exportation of the Islamic Revolution. As the organization’sideological platform, articulated publicly for the first time in 1985, made clear: “Weview the Iranian regime as the vanguard and new nucleus of the leading Islamic Statein the world. We abide by the orders of one single wise and just leadership,represented by “ Wali Faqih” [rule of the jurisprudent] and personified by Khomeini.”1More than two decades later, the ideological bonds between Hezbollah and Tehranremain deep and durable, with Hezbollah’s spiritual guide, Hassan Nasrallah, publicly2pledging allegiance to—and serving as a personal emissary of—Iranian SupremeLeader Ali Khamenei.2FINANCINGAccording to U.S. officials, the Iranian regime is the “central banker of terrorism,”spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually on support for radical groups andmovements throughout the world.3 A large portion of those funds go towardsustaining and supporting its principal terrorist proxy. For years, the U.S. intelligencecommunity has estimated that Iran provides some $100 million—and perhaps closerto $200 million—annually to Hezbollah.4 These funds go to support a broad range ofinitiatives, ranging from the organization’s dedicated television channel, Al-Manar, toHezbollah’s foreign presence.TRAININGIran’s powerful clerical army, the Pasdaran, was responsible for the creation ofHezbollah in 1982, as part of Iranian assistance to Syria in the arming and training ofthe Lebanese resistance as a hedge against Israel.5 Ever since, the Iranian regime hashad a significant presence “on the ground” in Lebanon, providing oversight of andassistance to Hezbollah’s day-to-day operations.6 This foothold has significantlyaugmented Hezbollah’s indigenous know-how, and perhaps even its warfightingcapabilities; hundreds of Pasdaran members are believed to have been involved in therecent fighting against Israel.7Hezbollah, in turn, has passed along this know-how to other terrorist actors.As long ago as the early 1990s, the organization is known to have provided explosivestraining to al-Qaeda, as well as to Egypt’s al-Jihad organization, as long ago as theearly 1990s.8 Hezbollah has also become a significant ally of the Palestinian Hamasmovement; in March 2004, with Iran’s support, the two organizations signed anunprecedented strategic accord expanding tactical cooperation and coordination.9LOGISTICSAs part of its cooperation with Hezbollah, the Islamic Republic of Iran remainsintimately involved in the planning and execution of the organization’s terroractivities. The principal conduit for these contacts is believed to be Imad Mughniyeh,the shadowy head of Hezbollah’s “special operations.” Mughniyeh is said to be anagent of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), carrying out hisoperations with MOIS backing and support.10This interaction is ongoing. As recently as January 2006, Mughniyeh isbelieved to have traveled with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad toDamascus, Syria—and to have facilitated a one-day meeting there between3Ahmadinejad and top leaders of Hezbollah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and thePopular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.11 It is alsoinstitutional in nature, and sustained at the highest levels of the regime. At one time,current Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Najar directed the Pasdaran’s elite QodsForce and oversaw the Islamic Republic’s contacts with Hezbollah.12WEAPONRYIran is Hezbollah’s principal military supplier, responsible for establishing andpreserving the organization’s substantial strategic capabilities. Iran, in cooperationwith Syria, has delivered thousands of Katyusha artillery rockets, as well as hundredsof Iranian-made Fajr-5 short-range missiles, to the terrorist group over the pastseveral years13—weapons that were instrumental in Hezbollah’s robust militaryshowing against Israel during hostilities in the summer of 2006. Tehran has also aidedand abetted Hezbollah’s efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction, providingoversight and assistance to Hezbollah’s efforts to arm its arsenal of short-rangemissiles with chemical warheads.14SECURITY GUARANTEESIran has even gone so far as to place Hezbollah under its direct protection. In early2004, Iran’s then-Defense Minister, Ali Shamkhani, signed a “memorandum ofunderstanding” with Syria codifying Iran’s commitment to defend the Ba’athist statein the event of an Israeli or American offensive. Shamkhani subsequently made clearto Hezbollah’s top leadership that these guarantees also extend to the terrorist group’sstronghold, Lebanon.15 (Notably, however, Iran has not acted upon this pledge,despite serious questions about Hezbollah’s survivability during the opening phases ofthe most recent Lebanon war).HEZBOLLAH ASCENDANTFour years ago, no less senior an official than then-Deputy Secretary of State RichardArmitage dubbed Hezbollah the premier terrorist threat to international peace andsecurity. “Hezbollah may be the ‘A team’ of terrorists,” Armitage told a Washingtonconference at the time. “Maybe al-Qaeda is actually the ‘B team.’”16 Armitage’sassessment reflects a long-standing consensus in the U.S. intelligence community:Hezbollah is a terrorist group with truly global reach, and extensive asymmetriccapabilities, thanks in large part to its strategic partnership with Tehran.That estimate is even more accurate today. The War on Terror so far has donenothing to diminish Hezbollah’s international stature. To the contrary, over the past4five years Iran has deepened its assistance to the Shi’ite militia, enabling the group tocommence a landmark strategic expansion. This has included:GREATER GLOBAL PRESENCEHezbollah has significantly widened its international presence in recent years.In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has begun a systematic takeover ofPalestinian terrorist groups, co-opting secular nationalist terrorist groups and creatingan elaborate smuggling network designed to arm its growing cadres.17 According tothe estimates of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service, the Lebanese Shi’ite militiadirected over 50 separate Palestinian terror cells in 2004—a seven-fold increase since2002.18 And, just weeks after the end of its month-long war with Israel, Hezbollahappears to have launched a new, more subtle terrorist campaign. According to YuvalDiskin, the head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, the radical Shi'ite militiahas stepped up its efforts to train and arm militants in the Palestinian AuthoritycontrolledGaza Strip. Diskin told a closed door session of the Knesset's foreign affairsand defense committee in late August that Hezbollah's efforts are assisting a massivearms build-up by militants in the Palestinian Territories.19With Iran’s blessing, Hezbollah has also established an extensive presence in Iraq,with offices in such urban centers as Nasariah, Basra, and Safwan, and has begunsubstantial recruitment efforts.20 This infiltration has been so successful that theLebanese Shi’ite militia is said to have assumed police duties in some Iraqi cities.21Likewise, while Hezbollah has been active in Europe since the mid-1980s, the sizeand pace of the organization’s activity on the continent appear to be increasing.According to counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt, Europe serves as a “launchingpad” for Hezbollah; a base from which to initiate operations against Israel and toconduct surveillance of Western targets.22 Germany has emerged as a country ofparticular focus in this regard. In the summer of 2002, Germany’s Federal Office forthe Protection of the Constitution went public with news that the organization wasactively seeking real estate in Berlin to establish a headquarters and a “trainingcentre” for its supporters in the country, then estimated at about 800.23 Today, thatnumber has expanded considerably; according to German sources, Hezbollah nowcontrols as many as five Islamic centers, financed by Iranian funds funneled throughthe Islamic Republic's embassy in Germany, in the North Rhine-Westphalia regionalone, as well as a nationwide network of as many as 1,000 operatives.24STRONGER TERRORIST TIESSimultaneously, Hezbollah has deepened its alliances with other terroristorganizations considerably. This collaboration has included assisting elements of al-Qaeda to put down roots in Lebanon, helping Hamas in the development of an5indigenous missile capability, and coordinating anti-Israeli and anti-Americanactivities with an assortment of extremist groups.25GREATER PUBLIC OUTREACHAlthough today’s international terrorist organizations have become increasinglymedia- and Internet-savvy, it was Hezbollah that originally pioneered the field ofterrorist public outreach. Since its founding in 1991 with seed money from Iran,Hezbollah’s dedicated television station, Al-Manar, has become a media powerhouse,broadcasting around the clock via satellite to an estimated 10 to 15 million viewersdaily throughout the world.26 And, while European nations have undertaken a majoreffort to silence Al-Manar in recent months, the station has proven resilient. Al-Manar still claims to have the ability to reach a potential 200 million viewersworldwide,27 providing Hezbollah with a global platform from which to spread itsradical message.FUTURE ROLEBack in the year 2000, Israel’s withdrawal from its long-established security zone insouthern Lebanon created a political vacuum in a 350-square mile area on itsnorthern border. Hezbollah was positioned to quickly fill this void, in the processbecoming the area’s dominant political and strategic force and leading many toconclude that the organization would soon give up its arms and turn its attention todevelopment and civil society.As the recent month-long Lebanon war has shown, however, Hezbollah’s newpolitical role has done little to soften the organization’s radicalism. Today, theorganization boasts virtual autonomy in what some have termed “Hizballahland”28and occupies no fewer than fourteen of the Lebanese parliament’s 128 seats. Yet,while its day-to-day activities may focus on the banalities of civic rule andconfronting its immediate enemy, Israel, Hezbollah—like its progenitor, Iran—remains ideologically committed to Khomeini’s extremist vision of a Shi’itedominatedcaliphate in the region, and of confrontation with the West.Indeed, Hezbollah is poised to take on even greater regional significance in the nearfuture. Ongoing U.S. difficulties in Iraq, coupled with the nuclear advances made bythe Iranian regime over the past several years, have catalyzed a growing wave of Shi’aempowerment in the region. Hezbollah has been a principal beneficiary of this trend,a fact manifested most dramatically by its kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on July12th—an incursion that touched off a month-long war between the organization and6Israel. Little in Hezbollah’s calculus has changed, thanks in large part to the group’smilitary successes against Israeli forces during recent hostilities. As one regionalexpert has put it, “Hizbullah is in a unique position to confront the U.S. agenda whichif successful will be, by extension, a victory for Syria, Iran and Hamas.”29U.S. policymakers should keep this perception in mind as they formulate regionalpolicy. They would also do well to remember the dictum of Hezbollah’s spiritualleader, Hassan Nasrallah: “Death to America is not a slogan. Death to America is apolicy, a strategy and a vision.”30NOTES:1 As cited in Center for Special Studies, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center,“Support For Hezbollah Provided by Iran and Syria, Two Countries Sponsoring Terrorism,”June 2003, http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/bu/hizbullah/chap_c.doc.2 Center for Special Studies, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, “Hezbollah:Profile of the Lebanese Shiite Terrorist Organization of Global Reach Sponsored By Iran AndSupported By Syria,” July 2003, http://www.terrorisminfo.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah.htm#B; Mehdi Khalaji, “Iran’sShadow Government in Lebanon,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy Policywatch no.1124, July 19, 2006, http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=2489.3 “Iran Called ‘Central Banker of Terror,’” Associated Press, August 28, 2006.4 Matthew Levitt, statement before the House International Relations CommitteeSubcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia and the Subcommittee on InternationalTerrorism and Nonproliferation, February 16, 2005,http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/Iran-Testimony-2-16-05.pdf.5 Magnus Ranstorp, Hizb’Allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis (NewYork: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 34; Gary C. Gambill and Ziad K. Abednour, “Hezbollah:Between Tehran and Damascus,” Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 4, no. 2 (2002),http://www.meib.org/articles/0202_l1.htm.6 During the 1980s, this presence was estimated to be as large as 2,500. Beginning in the early1990s, however, this presence was scaled down substantially, to 200-300 active Pasdaranoperatives. Gambrill and Abdelnour, “Hezbollah: Between Tehran and Damascus.”7 Ira Stoll, “Hundreds of Iranian Troops Fighting in Lebanon,” New York Sun, July 19, 2006,http://www.nysun.com/article/36326.8 United States v. Ali Mohamed, no. S(7) 98 Cr. 1023 (SDNY), October 20, 2000, 28.79 “Hamas, Hizbullah Sign Cooperation Accord,” Middle East Newsline, March 31, 2004,http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2004/march/03_31_1.html.10 See, for example, Isabel Kirshner, “The Changing Colors of Imad Mughniyah,” JerusalemReport, March 25, 2002, 25.11 “Iran’s Global Network In Focus,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, March 17, 2006.12 “Iran’s DM Oversaw Ties With Hezbollah,” Middle East Newsline, August 15, 2005(author’s collection).13 “Iran Continues to Train Hezbollah,” Middle East Newsline, April 7, 2002,http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2002/april/04_07_2.html; “Iran Establishes RocketTraining Centers in Lebanon,” Middle East Newsline, August 8, 2002,http://www.menewsline.com/stories/2002/august/08_08_2.html.14 “Hizbullah Suspected of Storing CW,” Middle East Newsline, May 27, 2002 (author’scollection).15 Amir Taheri, “An Axis Resurgent,” New York Post, February 28, 2004,http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/2297.16 Richard Armitage, “America’s Challenges in a Changed World,” remarks to the UnitedStates Institute of Peace, Washington, DC, September 5, 2002,http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/2002/13308.htm.17 Amit Cohen, “The Hezbollah Within Us,” Ma’ariv (Tel Aviv), March 5, 2004,http://www.maarivintl.com/dev/index.cfm?fuseaction=printArticle&articleID=4106.18 Amos Harel, “Hezbollah’s Terror Factory in the PA,” Ha’aretz (Tel Aviv), January 11, 2005,http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/525429.html.19 Michael Hirst and Clancy Chassey, “‘Hezbollah Is Arming Gaza For A New War On Israel,’Says Israel's Spy Chief,” Daily Telegraph (London), September 3, 2006,http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/03/wmid03.xml.20 See, for example, Lou Marano, “Iraqi: Hamas, Hezbollah operating in Iraq,” United PressInternational, January 15, 2004; See also Sharon Behn, “Hezbollah, Hamas Office Reported inIraq,” Washington Times, March 31, 2004, A19.21 See, for example, Raymond Tanter, “Iran’s Threat to Coalition Forces in Iraq,” WashingtonInstitute for Near East Policy Policywatch no. 827, January 15, 2004,http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=1705.822 Matthew Levitt, testimony before the House International Relations CommitteeSubcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, April 27, 2005,http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf.23 “Hezbollah Planning Berlin Headquarters,” Der Spiegel (Hamburg), June 24, 2002;“Hezbollah Plans to Settle in Berlin,” Die Welt (Berlin), June 26, 2002.24 Bruno Schirra, “Extremism—Tehran's Secret Fighters—The Shiite Terror OrganizationHizballah Also Has Adherents in Germany,” Welt Am Sonntag (Berlin), July 23, 2006.25 See, for example, Isabel Kirshner, “The Changing Colors of Imad Mughniyah,” JerusalemReport, March 25, 2002, 25; Dana Priest and Douglas Farah, “Terror Alliance Has U.S.Worried,” Washington Post, June 30, 2002, A01; Matthew Levitt, Targeting Terror: U.S.Policy toward Middle Eastern State Sponsors and Terrorist Organizations, Post-September 11(Washington: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2002), 114.26 Avi Jorisch, “Terrorist Television,” National Review Online, December 22, 2004,http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/jorisch200412220812.asp; See also Avi Jorisch,“Al-Manar: Hezbollah TV, 24/7,” Middle East Quarterly XI, no. 1 (2004),http://www.meforum.org/article/583.27 “Israel unable to silence Al Manar TV,” The Peninsula (Doha), August 7, 2006,http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=August2006&file=World_News2006080725129.xml.28 Gal Luft, “Hizballahland,” Commentary 116, no. 1 (2003).29 As cited in Nicholas Blanford, “Israeli Strikes May Boost Hizbullah Base,” Christian ScienceMonitor, July 28, 2006, http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0728/p06s01-wome.html.30 As cited in Center for Special Studies, Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center,“Hezbollah,” July 2003, http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/bu/hizbullah/pb/app13.htm.