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LEBANESE HIZBALLAH SPEAKS OUT FOR IRAN.

Hizballah has officially adopted a policy of silence towards recent criticism of Iran by a former party leader, but unofficially it backs Iran, Lebanon's "Al-Mustaqbal" newspaper reported on 2 October. Former Hizballah Secretary-General Subih Tufaili had said in an early-September speech in Brital, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, that Iran has betrayed the revolution's founding principles, and he denounced current Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah as an Iranian agent, "The Daily Star" reported on 9 September. He also accused Iran of cooperating with the U.S. Anonymous Hizballah officials dismissed Tufaili's comments and said that the coincidence of Iranian interests in Iraq and Afghanistan with those of the U.S. is not indicative of submission, according to the 2 October "Al-Mustaqbal" report.

The reality of the relationship is indicated by U.S. pressure on Iran regarding the nuclear issue and Iranian opposition to U.S. activities in Iraq, they said. Moreover, the Hizballah officials asked, "If the Americans themselves are accusing Syria and Iran of supporting the Iraqi opposition or facilitating its operations, how can it then be correct to accuse them of dealing with the Americans?" Tufaili's criticism of Hizballah also seems far-fetched. The organization is listed as a "foreign terrorist organization" by the U.S. State Department, it is connected with the 1983 suicide bombings of the U.S. Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, and the kidnapping of many Americans and other Westerners. Secretary-General Nasrallah, however, denies that Hizballah is a terrorist organization. "Hizballah is a Lebanese resistance group. It has fought and is ready to fight," he said in the 28 July issue of "The Times" of London. "Hizballah has offered martyrs and is ready to offer more martyrs to defend its people and country."

Tufaili also has criticized Hizballah for its participation in the Lebanese political system, a process that began when Hizballah fielded candidates for the 1992 parliamentary race. There are now almost 10 Hizballah members in the legislature. Anonymous Hizballah officials reject such criticisms. They said that there is absolutely no connection between their interest in domestic affairs and the retreat of the resistance or an end to its military role, "Al-Mustaqbal" reported on 8 July.

According to another report, in the 3 July "Al-Nahar" from Beirut, Hizballah ideology requires it to continue fighting until Israel no longer occupies any Lebanese territory (a reference to the Shabaa Farms). Any indications of a retreat on the party's part are in fact based on the need to reassess regional developments after Operation Iraqi Freedom and in light of U.S. challenges to Iran and Syria. If Iran pushes Hizballah to act against Israel right now, according to "Al-Nahar," Iran would suffer the consequences. Nasrallah himself sounds far from conciliatory, nor does he seem to have abandoned armed struggle, as Tufaili suggests. Nasrallah said in May, according to the 1 June issue of Manama's "Al-Wasat," "We must continue resistance." He continued: "We are at a stage in which there is no room for capitulation. We have been here for 20 years and have not surrendered or weakened. Killing made us stronger, the blood of martyrs made us stronger, the shackles of Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid, Mustafa Dirani, and other prisoners in the enemy jails made us stronger." (Bill Samii)

source RFE/RL Iran Report Vol. 6, No. 41, 13 October 2003