Persistent Fiction About Hezbollah’s Structure Harming Lebanon And Undermining Regional Security

(New York, N.Y.) — Hezbollah, which today enters its 24th year as a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, remains one of the world’s most formidable transnational terrorist organizations. This is due largely to the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which provides it with significant financial aid, military training, and weapons. Iranian support strengthens Hezbollah’s hold on political, military, and social power in Lebanon – evidenced most recently by deliveries of Iranian oil to the country – and its ability to engage in terrorist activities in Lebanon and abroad.

Tightening sanctions on Hezbollah by designating it in its entirety is essential to stopping Hezbollah from subsuming Lebanon and transforming the country into a genuine regional geo-strategic threat and forward base for Iranian interests. Countries once hesitant to fully ban Hezbollah, like the United Kingdom or Germany, have recently joined the U.S. in banning the group in its entirety. 

Many governments, however, still adhere to a fictional view of Hezbollah as two separate entities with ‘political’ and ‘military’ arms, despite repeated affirmation from the group’s leaders that it is one body working towards the same goals. France, Australia, and the European Union, are among the most economically powerful and diplomatically influential that have yet to change their view. Their refusal to designate Hezbollah in its entirety allows the group to maintain its corrosive effect on Lebanon and fund its terror operations. 

To read United Against Nuclear Iran’s (UANI) resource, Global Designations Of Hezbollah As A Terror Organization, please click here. 

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