Hezbollah & Iran

Heightened Travel Warning Kidnapping Abroad

The Hezbollah organization is unremitting in its efforts to attack Israelis throughout the world, with its emphasis on kidnappings.

The Counter-Terrorism Bureau calls on Israel's abroad to act accordingly:

1. Heighten awareness and sensitivity towards any unusual circumstances or phenomena.

2. Turn-down unexpected and alluring proposals in both business and recreation.

3. Avoid allowing entrance to your hotel room or apartment by unexpected or suspicious visitors.

4. Avoid staying at secluded locations, especially during hours of darkness.

5. Insist on being accompanied by someone you trust when attending business meetings or while at recreation.

6. Alter your routine and habits occasionally, if on a prolonged stay in one place: Switch hotels, travel routes, restaurants and recreational spots.

National Security Council web site: www.nsc.gov.il

Iran: State Sponsorship of Hezbollah

Iran is believed to fund Hezbollah to the tune of at least $100 million per year. Recently, Western diplomats and analysts in Lebanon estimated Hezbollah receives closer to $200 million a year from Iran. The increase is likely due to Irans keen interest in undermining prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace (and, in general, further destabilizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), and Hezbollahs growing role as Irans proxy to achieve this goal. Hezbollah success in funding and training Palestinian groups—not just the Irans interest in it—may well explain the increase in funding since Iran is known to employ a results-oriented approach to determining the level of funding it is willing to provide terrorist groups. As a U.S. court noted in Weinstein v. Iran, the period of 1995-1996 was a peak period for Iranian economic support of Hamas because Iran typically paid for results, and Hamas was providing results by committing numerous bus bombings such as the one on February 25, 1996. Iranian funding to terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad (most often funneled via Hezbollah) increases when they carry out successful attacks and decreases when they fail, are thwarted or are postponed due to ceasefires or other political considerations.

Some of this financial support comes in the form of cash funds, while much is believed to come in the form of material goods such as weapons. Iranian cargo planes deliver sophisticated weaponry, from rockets to small arms, to Hezbollah in regular flights to Damascus from Tehran. These weapons are offloaded in Syria and trucked to Hezbollah camps in Lebanons Bekaa Valley. In the wake of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Hezbollah reportedly received an additional $22 million from Iranian intelligence to support Palestinian terrorist groups and foment instability.

Iran also funnels money to Hezbollah through purportedly private charities closely affiliated with the revolutionary elite led by Supreme Leader Khomeoni that controls such key Iranian institutions as the intelligence and security services, the judiciary, and the revolutionary council. Mohammed Raad, leader of Hezbollahs Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc in the Lebanese parliament, readily accedes that the group receives funds from Iran, but maintains these are only for health care, education and support of war widows.

Tarek El Aissami
Many insiders worried is the possibility of radicals holding government positions. The recent designation of Tarek El Aissami as Minster of Interior and Justice of Venezuela has raised concerns because of his connections with extremist groups
like: Hizballah, HAMAS, Abu Nidal Organization, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades|Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Islamic Jihad Group, Palestine Liberation Front, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP-General Command

Mr. El Aissami is a Venezuelan national of Syrian descent who, before becoming Minster of Interior and Justice, occupied the position of Deputy Interior Minister for Public Security. His father, Carlos Aissami, is the head of the Venezuelan branch of the Iraqi Baath political party. Before the invasion of Iraq, he held a press conference in which he described himself as a Taliban and called Osama Bin Laden, "the great Mujahedeen, Sheik Osama bin Laden." Tarek's great-uncle Shibli el-Aissami was a prominent ideologist and assistant to the party's secretary general in Baghdad during the Saddam Hussein regime. (less info)