Hezbollah receives 400 million dollars from Iran
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/feb/25/1289
GVF -- The illegitimate government of Iran has provided the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah with an aid of 400 million US dollars. The sum was granted to Hezbollah following a visit by Ahmadinejad’s advisor Mehrdad Bazrpash to Lebanon and the funding has the approval of Ahmadinejad.
Previously, Iran’s financial aids to Hezbollah were through the Iranian Saderat bank, however following international sanctions against the bank and the sensitivities surrounding its activities, the Iranian Embassy in Beirut was used as a means of carrying out this large transfer of funds.
We have learned that the money transfer was carried out last month in a very secretive way and under the cover of a cultural event promoted by the Iranian government for the Iran-Lebanon friendship week which served as an excuse for the visit of Mehrzad Bazrpash to Beirut. Away from the media’s watchful eyes which were focused on the Iranian-sponsored event, Bazrpash was able to provide 400 million US dollars to the Lebanese resistance group.
According to our reports, a Hezbollah official responsible for receiving Iranian—aids aimed at the reconstruction efforts in Lebanon following the devastating 33-day war in the summer of 2006 between Hezbollah and Israel—has been under pursuit for fraud and this experience led the Ahmadinejad administration to take matters into its own hands and send his close representative to Lebanon in order to make this money transfer happen.
The militant group is the only organisation outside Iran which is ideologically aligned with the religious leadership in Iran. The group was established in Lebanon in the 80s with Iranian help in order to put an end to the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. The group still receives funding from Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard sent many forces to Lebanon in the 80s for the training of Hezbollah fighters.
Following the stolen presidential elections of June 2009, the identities of Hezbollah members actively participating in the post-election crackdowns were reported by Iranian and foreign media as well as various weblog writers Iran who were closely following the images of the violent suppressions.
The following is an image of Hossein Manif Ashmar:
Hossein is the brother of two of Hezbollah’s well-known martyrs Ali Manif Ashmar and Muhammad Ashmar and has been living in Iran since the mid-90s. He is an active member of the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) in addition to working for Hezollah’s representative office in Iran.
Hossein Ashmar was part of the militant group that attacked Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s campaign office in the Northern Tehran neighbourhood Qeitariyeh on election day 12th June 2009. Eye witnesses reported that Ashmar was armed on that day as he assaulted members of the Mousavi campaign along with his fellow militia.
Iran’s material support for Hezbollah has been a regular feature of Iran’s relationship with the popular resistant group; however it is believed that the magnitude of Iranian aid and the nature of the relationship have undergone a change following Ahmadinejad’s rise to power in 2005.
After the monumental fraud that took place in June 2009, the much admired Secretary-General of Hezbollah Hassan Nassrallah stood aside as the Iranian authorities brutally crushed protesters whose only demand was to have their stolen votes back. Nassrallah’s deputy Sheikh Naim Qasem referred to the political turmoil in Iran as something “related to the people of that country” as well as an “internal dispute among political groups.”
Throughout the years as the people of Lebanon struggled against the horrors of Israeli occupation, they were always able to rely on the people of Iran for unconditional support. We must then ask, how is it that not only did Nassrallah not condemn the horrors unleashed by the Iranian authorities against their own people following 12 June, but rushed to congratulate the illegitimate “president,” in order to make-up for his lost legitimacy.
As Israel is beating the war drums four years after its humiliating military defeat against Hezbollah, many believe that Ahmadinejad might exploit another conflict between Israel and the militant group as a way of resolving his own lack of legitimacy inside Iran.
0 comments:
Post a Comment