Walid Phares: Danger at the Horizon: Hizbollah in Tehran

"Hezbollah has shown it is skillful and wise in politics as it is powerful and displays initiative in the field of Jihad and resistance," Khamenei told Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah, the student agency ISNA reported

"Today, the United States has really become weak in the region," Khamenei said. "This is proved by its failure in Iraq and defeat of its plans in Lebanon and Iran."

AFP: August 2, 2005

Walid Phares: Hizbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah paid a strategic trip to Tehran's regime. In my analysis, the meetings held with the new Iranian President, Ahmedinijad and the statements made by the latter are the most dramatic developments of the week. Hizbollah's renewed alliance with the Mullah regime is, along with the ongoing al Qaida war against Britain, the most important developments in the War on Terrorism currently. After 9/11, Hizbollah hoped the US would actually crumble. After Afghanistan, it hoped the country would become its Islamist Vietnam. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Hizbollah saw US forces deployed around Iran. After the voting of the UNSCR 1559, the pro-Iranian organization started to see the geopolitics changing, and it understood that it has changed with the rapid withdrawal of its protectors, the Syrian occupation army as of last April. Since, Hizbollah is on the counteroffensive.

This recent visit to Tehran aim at redrawing defensive red lines in Lebanon and preparing for future offensives against US interest and presence. Ahmedinijad was clear: Hizbollah's militia are Iran's most Western forces along the Mediterranean sea. Strategists in Washington and Brussels should understand the meaning of the message. Nasrallah is not just a Lebanese politician with a dozen members in the parliament, he is the commander of 20,000 militiamen, 5,000 fighters, and around a 1,000 suicide bombers ready to engage battle in the region and around the world.

Walid Phares: Hizbollah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah paid a strategic trip to Tehran's regime. In my analysis, the meetings held with the new Iranian President, Ahmedinijad and the statements made by the latter are the most dramatic developments of the week. Hizbollah's renewed alliance with the Mullah regime is, along with the ongoing al Qaida war against Britain, the most important developments in the War on Terrorism currently. After 9/11, Hizbollah hoped the US would actually crumble. After Afghanistan, it hoped the country would become its Islamist Vietnam. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Hizbollah saw US forces deployed around Iran. After the voting of the UNSCR 1559, the pro-Iranian organization started to see the geopolitics changing, and it understood that it has changed with the rapid withdrawal of its protectors, the Syrian occupation army as of last April. Since, Hizbollah is on the counteroffensive.

This recent visit to Tehran aim at redrawing defensive red lines in Lebanon and preparing for future offensives against US interest and presence. Ahmedinijad was clear: Hizbollah's militia are Iran's most Western forces along the Mediterranean sea. Strategists in Washington and Brussels should understand the meaning of the message. Nasrallah is not just a Lebanese politician with a dozen members in the parliament, he is the commander of 20,000 militiamen, 5,000 fighters, and around a 1,000 suicide bombers ready to engage battle in the region and around the world.