Peres said the international community's longer-term goals in the region must include stabilizing Lebanon and drawing it away from Iran's influence. "Hezbollah wants a Lebanon with an Iranian orientation," Peres said. "The Lebanese must decide if they will control their own destiny, or will be swallowed up by a larger threat." If that happened, he said, "Lebanon would be a tragedy of Iranian ambition."
Peres spoke at length about the threat posed by a rising Iran, saying the country's influence derives not from economic or military strength, but its plans for a nuclear weapon, which it pursues because the global community allows it. "As long as the world remains divided, Iran will run wild," he said. He said Iran is using Hezbollah and the fight in Lebanon to "divert attention from their nuclear bomb, which is still their first priority." Despite Iran's growing threat, Israel will not preemptively attack Tehran, he said; it will only respond if attacked.
Peres said Iran, taking advantage of a weakened Syria, is working with Hamas—which he called a "state-in-the-making" -and Hezbollah - a "state-within-a-state" - to assert Iranian influence in the region. Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and the Gulf states-which have reason to fear the advent of a "Shiite crescent" - initially criticized the July 12 Hezbollah raid and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers that started the latest conflict. However, Israel's attacks on Lebanonhave caused Arab states to line up against Israel.
Syria is running a "double-standard policy," Peres said, by harboring Hamas leader Khalid Meshal in Damascus and shuttling Iranian arms and funds to Hezbollah in Lebanon. "Assad Sr. (former Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000) never allowed Hezbollah to run the affairs of Lebanon," Peres said, "but Assad Jr. (current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) is a friend of (Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan) Nasrallah." Peres called Bashar al-Assad "the son of a wise man" who had not learned enough from his father.
Peres said Israel, and what he called the "responsible countries of the world," would eventually prevail in the current crisis, because groups like Hamas and Hezbollah are "shooting without reason or purpose, but (only) to destroy Israel and bring down our spirit." He said the militant Islamic groups have no message for their people and cannot meet their needs for employment, education, or a stable, responsible, transparent government. The current violence could even create an opportunity for change in the region. "I think this is a chance to reinvent the Middle East," he said.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/11183/