Iran's Plan to Foil Israeli-Arab Normalization and to Keep Expanding the Revolution
by Khaled Abu Toameh • June 28, 2022 at 5:00 am
When Hamas and Hezbollah talk about "develop[ing] the program and axis of resistance," they are referring to terrorist attacks against Israel. The two terrorist groups have tens of thousands of rockets and missiles that are ready to be fired towards Israel at any moment from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Haniyeh's visit to Beirut has outraged many Lebanese and Arabs, who expressed concern that the Hamas-Hezbollah alliance would further destabilize Lebanon and bring it closer to a military confrontation with Israel.
It is clear that Haniyeh and Nasrallah are seeking to use Lebanon as a launching pad not only to attack Israel, but also as a base for intimidating Saudi Arabia and other Arabs into avoiding alliances with Israel against Iran.
"When will the Biden admin learn that Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Iran's regime are all the same?" — Lisa Daftari, Iranian-American investigative journalist, Twitter, June 16, 2022.
"Iran occupied Lebanon through its powerful arm, Hezbollah, which took control of Lebanon by the force of Iranian weapons. This occupation was justified by the absurd claim that these weapons aim to impose a balance of terror with the Israeli enemy and prevent its attacks, when in fact its use was purely internal to terrorize and kill." — Huda al-Husseini, Lebanese political analyst, Asharq al-Awsat, June 23, 2022.
"Iran penetrated Syria after the outbreak of the revolution against the regime in 2011 and Bashar Assad resorted to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to defend what remained of his regime. Tehran gave orders to Hezbollah to get involved, commit the most horrific massacres, terrorize opponents, and restore the [Syrian] army's control. This made the Syrian regime in the grip of Tehran. Iran completed its expansion plans through its weapons to Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen." — Huda al-Husseini, Asharq al-Awsat, June 23, 2022.
The meeting between Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon should set off alarm bells in Washington: the meeting shows that Iran is taking advantage of the perceived weakness of the Biden administration in failing to confront the mullahs' covetous schemes in the region.
It only remains to be seen whether the Biden administration's policy of appeasement toward the mullahs enables the Iranians and their proxies to redouble their efforts to spread their expansion, terrorism and bloodshed throughout the Middle East.
Iran and its terrorist proxies have intensified their efforts to sabotage US President Joe Biden's upcoming visit to the Middle East, which is scheduled to take place in mid-July.
The effort to sabotage the visit comes amid reports that Biden will try to advance Israel-Saudi relations and broker a military alliance between Israel and a number of Arab countries to confront the threats and terror by Iran and its proxies.
According to the reports, Biden is planning to form a regional conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The coalition will include the US, Israel, and some Arab countries, including Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. "The new alliance is intended to contain Iran and, in the first stage, will be based on an air defense system against Iranian missiles and attack drones and cyber security measures," said Prof. Eytan Gilboa, an expert on US-Israel relations.
