Terrorism

On January 3, President Trump neutralized the person most responsible for spreading terror across the Middle East – Major-General Qassem Soleimani. As head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) -- the hand behind Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and the Iraqi Shiite militias responsible for the deaths of over 600 U.S.

On October 8, 1997, the United States created its Foreign Terrorist Organization list, pursuant to 1996’s Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and added Hezbollah to the first batch of designated groups. Twenty-two years on, the designation has been ineffective in weakening the group. In the two decades since, Hezbollah has continued to expand its global reach, becoming more of a critical player in Lebanon and in furthering Iran’s hegemonic ambitions.

On September 1, at 4:15 PM, a Hezbollah cell dubbed the “Martyrs Hassan Zbeeb and Yasser Daher Group” fired Anti-Tank Guided Missiles at an Israeli military patrol and base near Moshav Avivim. The group claimed the strike was a revenge attack for Israel killing the eponymous Zbeeb and Daher, two low-ranking operatives, in Syria a week earlier.

On the morning of October 23, 1983, Imad Mughniyeh and Mustafa Badreddine perched atop a building in south Beirut with their binoculars fixated on the four-story U.S. Marine Barracks attached to the International Airport.

The Trump Administration has stepped up pressure on European governments to take a harder line against continued business engagement with Iran since its May decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal. In the face of mounting political unrest and economic strains, Iran has only doubled down in its malevolent machinations worldwide.

Saturday, May 5^th will mark the 39^th anniversary of the founding of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which stands today as the country’s most powerful military and security force and a powerful economic actor inside Iran.

The U.S. has accelerated the pace with which it is sanctioning Iran’s terrorist proxies in the Middle East as part of a concerted strategy to curtail Tehran’s malign efforts to dominate and destabilize the Middle East, which have sharply escalated since the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The intensified sanctions campaign keeps with the letter and spirit of the nuclear deal.

On the morning of October 23, 1983, Imad Mughniyeh and Mustafa Badreddine perched atop a building in south Beirut, binoculars fixated on the four-story U.S. Marine barracks attached to the International Airport.

On October 31, the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) updated its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, applying new sanctions to several individuals and entities affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for their role in supporting the IRGC’s terroristic and ballistic missile proliferation activities.