PerspectiveIran and Hezbollah’s Presence Around the World
In the days since the U.S. strike that killed Quds Force commander Qassim Soleimani, Americans have heard dire warnings about potential retaliation by Iran. Eric Halliday writes that in addition to Quds Force, Iran’s ability to retaliate is enhanced by Iran’s extensive network of proxy forces, most notably Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran and Hezbollah have spent the last three decades creating international bases of operation, which means they already have resources in place which would allow them to strike U.S. interests far outside of the Middle East.
In the days since the U.S. strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Major General Qassim Soleimani, Americans have heard dire warnings about potential retaliation by Iran. Eric Halliday writes in Lawfare that Soleimani’s Quds Force, a unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that specializes in unconventional warfare, would be a likely source for such retaliation—but Iran doesn’t rely on the Quds Force alone. Instead, the government’s ability is enhanced by Iran’s extensive network of proxy forces, most notably Hezbollah in Lebanon.
He adds:
Many analysts have zeroed in on Iran’s ability to retaliate in the Middle East. But Iran’s area of influence is not limited to its region. Over the past decade, it has launched operations, either through Hezbollah or its own agents, around the world—including in Latin America, Eastern Europe, East and South Asia, Western and Central Africa, and within the United States itself.
The U.S government has repeatedly pursued Iran and Hezbollah’s international presence, typically through Justice Department indictments and Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions, and it has been joined in those efforts by foreign governments across several continents. Together these law enforcement activities paint a picture of Iran and Hezbollah flexing their financial and covert muscles far beyond their base in the Middle East, a pattern that presents ongoing implications for U.S. national security.
Halliday notes that Iran and Hezbollah are not consistently successful in their attempts at terror attacks in foreign countries, but they have spent the past several decades creating international bases of operation, especially in Latin America and Western Africa, which means they already have resources in place which would allow them to strike U.S. interests far outside of the Middle East. “Above all, the most concerning development in the past decade has been Hezbollah’s activity inside the U.S,” Halliday writes. “The lethality of the bombings in Argentina and Bulgaria are stark reminders that Iran, either on its own or in tandem with Hezbollah, is capable of attacking its enemies in many parts of the world—and has historically been very willing to do so.”
