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New Hezbollah Leader Continues Legacy of Terrorism and Subordination to Iran
Then-Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech as hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel increase, from an unknown location, Oct. 8, 2024 in this still image from video. Photo: ReutersTV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS
Hezbollah is still attempting to recoup its losses following the Israeli targeting of its leaders — including the terrorist group’s iconic ruler, Hassan Nasrallah, who was eliminated in an Israeli airstrike on September 27th. Hezbollah’s heavily reduced surviving leadership, under the strict guidance of Iran, didn’t have an abundance of choice between politicians to lead it.
Accordingly, the election this week of Shia cleric Naim Qassem, the longstanding deputy of Nasrallah, became a natural choice for the Iranians and Hezbollah, given the dwindling numbers of eligible loyal political figures to run Iran’s terrorist crown jewel in Lebanon.
Qassem is endorsed by the powers that be in Tehran, including the newly-elected and so called “reformist” President Masoud Pezeshkian, who stated the following in an official letter to Qassem: “I am confident that the presence of a brilliant personality and a mujahid (Jihadist) with a bright past like Your Eminence at the head of Hezbollah will strengthen the will in the field of resistance and also continue the bright path of the lofty martyrs of this front.”
Qassem Vows to Destroy Israel
Naim Qassem, who was born in 1953 in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, has been the Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah since 1991, and was a co-founder of the terrorist group along with Nasrallah in 1982. His radicalism and extremist views as a Shia cleric are known in the group’s circles, and he has remained a loyal servant of Iran for over four decades. Despite being a chemist, he is considered to be the ideologue of the terrorist group, writing over a dozen books on jurisprudence he has also chronicled the terrorist group’s history in some books.
While lacking the leadership charisma of his predecessor, he masks his grim nature and exuberant radicalism with fiery speeches of resistance and obliterating the enemy — which remains Israel in all cases.
“You will die of terror, your economy will collapse, you will not achieve your goals, and you will transform the resistance in Palestine into a global movement” said Qassem in a speech on September 22nd, threatening Israel.
“Israel became weaker to us than a spider’s web. We look upon it that it will be perished and if it assaults us, we will answer back,” said Qassem in an old speech that went viral online on September 21st.
He continued his threatening messages in a speech on October 15th, commemorating Nasrallah’s death and urging stronger resistance.
“Your order is our command [addressing Nasrallah’s spirit], we will defeat them and extract them from our lands,” said Qassem. “We can’t separate Lebanon from Palestine or the region from Palestine,” added Qassem, insisting that Hezbollah will keep the fight as a front to back Gaza’s Hamas.
Qassem — the Perfect Iranian Stooge
While his stance on eliminating Israel and rejecting any peaceful resolutions for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are well known, Qassem shows steadfast loyalty to Iran.
“The news of appointing him (Qassem) as a General Secretary was the most logical since he was the Deputy General Secretary since 1991, which means that he was the most loyal to Iran and most trusted by them” said Lebanese journalist and political analyst Mohamed Kawas to Deutsche Welle Arabic TV “He appeared three times to deliver speeches after Nasrallah’s death to elaborate on the stances of Hezbollah. In each time, I noticed he was reading the speeches word by word after we all felt that the whole situation is now in Tehran’s hands.”
When asked if his appointment will mean more subordination by Hezbollah to Iran, Kawas replied “I think so; he is very close to Iran and frequently visited there. He was always one of the ideologues of Hezbollah.”
Moreover, media reports over the past two weeks have indicated that he may have traveled secretly to Iran for security reasons.
The subordination to Iran and pushing the Iranian regime’s agenda is not a novelty, as it has been a stable practice of Hezbollah since its inception. Members of the terrorist group took pride in being the agents of Iran for decades. Now, however, they are finally paying a price for allowing themselves to become a clone of the Islamist regime of Iran, operating as a dictatorial state within the country of Lebanon.
Qassem and his puppeteers in Teheran are now issuing new threats against Israel. But considering Israel’s early retirement of Qassem’s two predecessors, and the Israeli devastation of the Iranian defensive system, these boasts betray a real vulnerability to a knockout punch by the IDF.
Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) Senior Fellow Hany Ghoraba is an Egyptian writer, political and counter-terrorism analyst at Al Ahram Weekly, and a regular contributor the BBC. He is the author of Egypt’s Arab Spring: The Long and Winding Road to Democracy He is a writer and contributor for over a dozen international outlets, periodicals and networks including Newsmax, OANN, BBC Radio, CSP, MEF, American Spectator, American Thinker, Arab Weekly, and Al Arabiya News. A different version of this article was first published by IPT.
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Israel for First Time Claims Responsibility for Killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
Iranians attend the funeral procession of assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 1, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday acknowledged for the first time that Israel killed Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
“These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran’s defense systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand,” Katz said during an event honoring defense ministry personnel.
Israel will “damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders. Just as we did to Haniyeh, [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon [respectively] — we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana’a,” Katz continued. “Whoever raises a hand against Israel will have their hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will strike them and settle the score.”
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are all internationally designated terrorist organizations backed by Iran. Katz’s comments came after the Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv over the weekend. The Houthis have also been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and will prevent all ships from heading to Israeli ports.
Haniyeh, the exiled political chief of Hamas, was killed in an explosion in Iran’s capital city on July 31. Iran had accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed revenge; however, for months the Israeli government had neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Haniyeh was based in Qatar and had been the face of Hamas’s during the Israel-Hamas war, which the Palestinian terroris group launched with its invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
Following Haniyeh’s death, Sinwar was named the terrorist group’s overall leader after being its top official in Gaza. Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October.
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‘Should Scare Every American’: Top Trump Adviser Mike Waltz Explains Dangers of Iran Getting Nuclear Weapons
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who was recently tapped to serve as the White House national security adviser for the incoming Trump administration, outlined in a new interview why Iran’s nuclear program could pose a major threat to the United States and must be stopped.
During an interview with Daily Wire co-founder and conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro, Waltz said that his constituents often do not understand how Iran’s nuclear ambitions impact American interests. The lawmaker explained that Iran obtaining nuclear weapons could kick-start an arms race and geopolitical firestorm in the Middle East, potentially forcing the US to become more involved in the region militarily.
“No. 1, if Iran gets a nuke, the Saudis are going to want a nuke, the Turks are going to want a nuke, and the Middle East exploding, not literally but figuratively, in a nuclear arms race should scare every American,” Waltz said.
Though Waltz conceded that nuclear proliferation in the Middle East would not necessarily result in “World War III,” he asserted that it would be “catastrophic for the world.”
The lawmaker added that a nuclear-armed Iran would endanger Israel, which he described as America’s “critical ally, morally and historically and geopolitically,” and that the US should take threats by Iranian leadership to eliminate Israel seriously.
“We should believe [Iran’s so-called ‘supreme leader,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] who intends to wipe Israel off the face of the earth if they have nukes,” Waltz said.
Waltz also praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “exposing Iran’s air defenses so that they literally are naked right now and on their back foot.” He appeared to be referring to Israel’s precision airstrikes on Iranian military and air defense sites in October which devastated the regime’s air-defense system and ballistic missile program. The strikes were in response to Iran’s ballistic missile barrage against Israel weeks earlier.
Waltz went on to say that the incoming Trump administration plans on “hitting” Iran’s finances throughout the Middle East and stopping the flow of money “out of Tehran into Beirut and into [Iran’s] proxies in Syria.”
Iran has supported several terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — both of which have been devastated by Israeli military operations in recent months. The Iranian regime also backed the recently ousted Assad regime in Syria, where Israel launched limited operations to ensure security at its northeastern amid uncertainty about Syria’s future.
“I hope that all of this has Hamas so isolated. They really thought the cavalry was coming from the north with Hezbollah. Now, that has been shown not to be true; Hamas has every exit blocked except one, and that is to release our hostages if you want to live,” Waltz said.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under the Trump administration from 2017-2021 crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. US President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
US intelligence agencies have for years labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, noting it devotes significant sums of money and weapons each year to supporting proxies across the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
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US Far-Left Lawmakers Call for End of Probe Into Spain for Barring Ships Bringing Arms to Israel
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses attendees as she takes part in a protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the US Capitol, in Washington, DC, US, Oct. 18, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
A cohort of American progressive lawmakers has called for the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to drop its investigation into Spain for reportedly denying port entry to cargo vessels transporting US weapons to Israel.
Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib (MI), Cori Bush (MO) and Summer Lee (PA) on Friday sent a letter to the FMC, expressing “deep concern” over its recently announced investigation into Spain’s decision to “deny port entry to ships carrying weapons bound for the Israeli government.” The three congresswomen lauded Spain for enacting an arms embargo against Israel, citing what they called the “ongoing genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel has been fighting Hamas since the terrorist group invaded the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023.
“This investigation is a reckless insult to our allies in Spain, which has only sought to enforce in good faith its sovereign national policies and uphold international law, including its treaty obligations to prevent genocide,” the congresswomen wrote.
The lawmakers then lambasted the US for “violating these same obligations and its own domestic laws” by continuing to support Israeli “human rights abuses, war crimes, and credible evidence of genocide. Tlaib, Bush, and Lee did not mention Israel’s efforts to avoid civilian casualties or Hamas’s strategy of using civilian sites for terrorist operations. However, they nonetheless argued that Washington should join Madrid in punishing Jerusalem for its military campaign in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The FMC, an independent agency of the US government, said it opened its probe into Spain earlier this month after receiving information that the NATO ally had refused to allow at least three cargo vessels — two of which were US-flagged — into its ports.
“The commission is concerned that this apparent policy of denying entry to certain vessels will create conditions unfavorable to shipping in the foreign trade,” the FMC said in a notice published in the Federal Register, official journal of the US federal government, on Dec. 5.
Two of the three incidents noted by the commission involved vessels run by the Danish shipping giant Maersk in November. The other occurred in May, when Spanish officials said they refused permission for the Danish Marianne Danica ship because it was “carrying weapons to Israel” and added they will not allow ships carrying arms for Israel to stop at its ports moving forward.
“Reports that the Government of Spain has denied access to certain US-flagged vessels raise serious concerns. Section 19 of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920, 46 U.S.C. § 42101, authorizes the commission to identify and offset unfavorable shipping conditions in U.S. foreign trade that result from the laws or regulations of a foreign government,” FMC commissioner Louis Sola said in a statement last Thursday. “If confirmed, Spain’s actions could constitute a violation of the law, and could result in substantial offsetting fines on Spanish-flag vessels, limitations on cargo carried between Spain and the United States, and other remedial actions within the commission’s discretion.”
Spain could be fined up to $2.3 million per voyage if the country is found to have interfered with commerce in such a way.
“Disruptions to international trade systems not only threaten global shipping networks, but also compromise the consumer markets they support,” Sola added. “Spain’s uniliteral restrictions on US-flagged vessels could raise questions about the core principles of non-discriminatory practices.”
Spain has been one of Europe’s fiercest critics of Israel following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
In October, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged other members of the European Union to suspend the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel over its military campaigns against Hamas in Gaza and the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Sanchez’s demand came three days after the Spanish premier urged other countries to stop supplying weapons to the Jewish state.
Spain stopped its own defense companies from shipping arms to Israel in October 2023.
In May, Spain officially recognized a Palestinian state, claiming the move was accelerated by the Israel-Hamas war and would help foster a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli officials described the decision as a “reward for terrorism.”
Spain, like many other countries around the world, experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents targeting the Jewish community following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
Meanwhile, US lawmakers Tlaib, Bush, and Lee have been among the most outspoken opponents of Israel in the US Congress, falsely accusing the Jewish state of “genocide” and pushing Jerusalem to accept a ceasefire just weeks after the Hamas atrocities of last Oct. 7.
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