Instead of sending weapons bound for Hezbollah through Syria and risking a clash with Israel and tension with Russia, Tehran has reportedly been shipping them directly to Lebanon according to reports
Iran has reportedly made further significant moves over the past year with an eye toward taking over not only Lebanon’s military dimensions, but also its government.
Abbas Ibrahim, the head of General Security Directorate — one of Lebanon’s most important intelligence agencies, is considered a Hezbollah appointee.
Speaker Nabih Berri who head up the Amal Movement is a key Hezbollah ally
Lebanon’s president, Michel Aoun has been allied with Hezbollah since Feb 2006
An investigation by Western and Arab intelligence agencies published in a UAE ewspaper last week revealed that Hezbollah’s “Unit 900,” known as the “security unit” within the group, has successfully recruited and planted dozens of moles in official Lebanese government institutions, including the director generals of government ministries, the head of economic bodies and senior commanders in the military.
According to the report, these same agents are transferring sensitive information to Hezbollah, allowing it to whatever it likes in the country.
Lebanon’s economy is dangerously close to collapse and political bickering over shares in a new Cabinet is threatening to scuttle pledges worth $11 billion by international donors.
Of immediate concern is the future of $11 billion in loans and grants pledged by international donors at a meeting in Paris in April, which Lebanon risks losing if no Cabinet is in place soon to unlock the funds and approve reforms that were set as conditions by the donors and which have been delayed for years.
The new government was on the verge of formation on October 29 after the Lebanese Forces accepted the portfolios that were assigned to it but a last-minute hurdle over the representation of pro-Hezbullah Sunni MPs surfaced.
Hezbollah demanded that six Sunni lawmakers allied with the Shiite group and opposed to PM designate Saad Hariri be included in his Cabinet — something that Hariri, the country’s top Sunni Muslim leader, categorically rejects and so did Lebanese president Michel Aoun even though he is allied with Hezbollah.
Following Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah was very popular , but since its 2006 war with Israel and the subsequent events , Hezbollah ‘s popularity in Lebanon has suffered greatly.
At the end of the 1975-90 civil war all the Lebanese militia were disarmed but Hezbollah remained the only armed militia.
Lebanon’s public debt is estimated be over 155 percent of GDP by the end of the year according to the World bank, one of the highest such ratios in the world. Since 2017 the Lebanese economy has gotten much worse as a result of the budget deficits.
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