WND - Lebanon: Syria out, Iran in
As Damascus claims it will exit, Tehran positions itself to take over
Posted: March 14, 2005
"Iran's presence in Lebanon is as old as the Iranian revolution," Dr. Walid Phares, secretary general of the World Lebanese Culture Union, told WND. "As early as 1980, Revolutionary Guards, with Syria's approval, established bases in the Bekaa Valley, and helped in the forming of Hezbollah. Iran maintains about 1,000 or more of these guards who are military assistants to Hezbollah."
Haaretz, March 6, 2005
Lebanonwire
Israel: Iranian Guard must withdraw from Lebanon along with Syrian troops
By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent
Israel has informed a number of countries, including the United States and France, that the demand for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon, in keeping with the UN Security Council decision, will not be complete if it doesn't also lead to the departure of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps members, who have been in Lebanon for a long time and are providing assistance to Hezbollah's military wing.
Israel's official position is that the Syrian forces deployed in Lebanon are not the only foreign army in that country. Despite the fact that the Syrian force is a large one, and includes numerous units and an extensive intelligence set-up, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards play a significant and negative military role in Lebanon - a role that undermines Lebanese sovereignty.
The individuals in question make up a group of Iranian military officers and experts numbering at least dozens.
Unlike the overt Syrian military presence, the members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard keep a low profile. Iranians questioned on this presence have said the group consists only of medical personnel who are there to provide medical logistics assistance and the like. This claim is refuted.
Reports determine that the Iranian officers and experts have provided operational assistance to Hezbollah, and have even patrolled along the Israeli border with Hezbollah operatives.
Furthermore, an Iranian-made drone, which, according to Hezbollah sources, was sent on a reconnaissance mission over Israeli territory, took photographs above Israeli territory before crashing on its way back to Lebanon.
The Iranian explanation after the incident was that, if they wanted to, they could send a UAV armed with explosives into Israel.
In addition, it is well known that the Iranian experts are involved in the array in southern Lebanon of long-range Fajr rockets that threaten Israel. These are Iranian-made rockets that were given to Hezbollah together with numerous other ordnance. Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were involved in setting up Hezbollah's rocket formation.
Thanks for posting that. I've been reading various sources for about a year (sorry, no links) that the Iranians had assets in southern Lebanon. As soon as I heard that Hizbullah denied firing the missiles into Haifa, I suspected that Iran's dirty fingers were involved.