Eye on Hezbollah: Hezbollah's Actions Follow Script Written by Iran

April 17, 2019 press@uani.com Eye on Hezbollah: Hezbollah's Actions Follow Script Written by Iran Resources Available at UANI's Hezbollah.org Spotlight Group's Actions in Support of Iranian Goals (New York, N.Y.) - United Against Nuclear Iran's (UANI) comprehensive website, Eye on Hezbollah, highlights the extent to which Hezbollah's actions are defined by the Islamic Republic of Iran's ambitions for regional domination and punishment of its enemies. Iran exploited Lebanon's Civil War and the subsequent 1982 Israeli invasion to catalyze the rise of Hezbollah. In the 1980s, Hezbollah targeted former Pahlavi regime officials in Europe and attacked France for its support of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War. Hezbollah also incubated Iranian proxies throughout the region. At Tehran's behest, the group created Unit 3800 in 2003 to train and assist Iraqi Shiite militias fighting against the U.S. and multinational forces. Using the techniques they learned from Hezbollah, Iraqi militias like Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) and Kataeb Hezbollah (KHA) killed hundreds of U.S. servicemen in Iraq. Contrary to the interests of Lebanon, which had been occupied by Syria for 35 years, Hezbollah in 2011 spearheaded the effort to defend Bashar al-Assad's regime, whose downfall was seen by Iran as a strategic threat. In addition to playing a critical role in battles vital to the Syrian regime's survival, Hezbollah also recruited Shiite and other fighters to buttress Assad's forces. Likewise, Hezbollah provided military training for the Houthi rebels, an Iranian-backed Shiite group that ousted the internationally-recognized government of Yemen in 2014. By some estimates, Hezbollah receives up to $800 million in annual funding from Iran. With Iranian assistance, Hezbollah has been able to grow its rocket arsenal from an estimated 12,000 projectiles in 2006 to more than 150,000 rockets today, and its strength rivals that of the Lebanese army. Should Hezbollah be allowed to continue to grow, it is feared Lebanon could eventually become something long coveted by Iran - a forward base on the Mediterranean from which it can threaten the interests of the U.S. and its allies in the region. To explore Eye on Hezbollah, please click here. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.