Green Energy
Jerusalem Post:
Analysis: Ahmadinejad to issue warning in Lebanon
By JONATHAN SPYER
13/10/2010
Beyond providing the Iranian president with a venue where he can speak without being heckled, he is coming to Lebanon to deliver a warning.
Preparations are complete for the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon. Iranian flags and portraits of the distinguished visitor have been placed along the road from Rafik Hariri International Airport to Beirut. A soccer stadium in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is ready to receive the thronging mass of Shia Lebanese well-wishers who will greet the Iranian president. In Bint Jbail, a large replica of the Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem has been constructed, with an Iranian flag atop it.
The speeches Ahmadinejad will give in Beirut and in Bint Jbail will no doubt contain the requisite exhortations to “resistance” and blood sacrifice. There will be much trumpeting of the “divine victory” of 2006 and tribute to the “martyrs.”
But the trip’s purpose is not merely ceremonial. Beyond providing Ahmadinejad with a venue where he can speak without being heckled – a luxury not so easily available to him in his own country anymore – the Iranian president is coming to Lebanon to deliver a warning.
As Fares Soueid of the Lebanese March 14 alliance put it, “The message is that Iran is at the border with Israel... Ahmadinejad, through this visit, is saying that Beirut is under Iranian influence and that Lebanon is an Iranian base on the Mediterranean... The Iranian president is here to say that Lebanon is a land of resistance and to reaffirm his project of a continuous war with Israel.”
With regard to Israel, this merely confirms an existing reality. The border has been in a state of heightened tension since the killing of an IDF lieutenant-colonel by a Lebanese army sniper two months ago.
The area has played host to furious Iranian-financed civil and military construction over the last four years. This has taken place under the noses and with the tacit acquiescence of both the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL.
Ahmadinejad’s visit will showcase and confirm this. It may even have the effect of briefly focusing rare media attention on it. But beyond this, for Israel the trip consists, as one newspaper put it, of a largely “symbolic visit” by the “man who calls the shots” in south Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad’s arrival is of greater significance, however, with regard to the very tense internal Lebanese situation.
The UN-backed special tribunal investigating the murder of former prime minister Rafik Hariri is rumored to be preparing to issue indictments against Hizbullah members for involvement in the killing. There are real fears that this could ignite renewed political violence in Lebanon.
Nawwaf al-Moussawi, a Hizbullah MP in the Lebanese parliament, recently warned that any Lebanese who accepts the international tribunal’s indictment findings would be killed as a “collaborator” with Israel and the US.
The Ahmadinejad visit is a show of support for Hizbullah from its Iranian patron, in the buildup to possible renewed internal strife.
Iranian security personnel are currently present in Lebanon, and are working in cooperation with Hizbullah.
There have been suggestions that the visit could herald the beginning of an attempt by Hizbullah to seize control of Lebanon. Hizbullah has, in its own inimitable way, sought to simultaneously calm these fears and remind its opponents of their helplessness. The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said recently that if Hizbullah had wished to take over the country, it could have done so in 2005 or 2006, but that it had no such desire.
The reports of an upcoming coup are probably overblown. But Ahmadinejad’s appearance on the scene will exacerbate fears. This is undoubtedly what the Iranian president wants. The charged atmosphere around his visit will serve as an ominous warning to opponents of the local Iranian franchise, at a particularly tense time.
The casting of Iran as the sponsor of “resistance” is a core part of Ahmadinejad’s regional strategy. Financing, arming and maintaining the two remaining active fronts of the Israeli-Arab conflict (the Hamas enclave in Gaza being the second) despite Iran’s non-Arab and non-Sunni nature is a key part of Teheran’s bid for regional leadership.
The Islamist regime in Teheran is today rocked by sanctions and internal dissent. But the regime will be determined to allow nothing as nebulous as international law to interfere with the franchise on the Mediterranean in which it has invested so much.
So Ahmadinejad is in Lebanon as a reminder of who really dominates that country – in possible anticipation of a further, more direct reminder if and when the Hariri Tribunal issues indictments.
-
Jerusalem Post: Hizbullah takeover in Lebanon likely, Ashkenazi warns By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF 11/15/2010 19:15 During Canada visit, IDF chief of staff says publication of Hariri tribunal's findings will likely lead to coup d'etat in...
-
'Hezbollah plans to seize power in Beirut', if Hariri indictments come down - can do it 'in 3 days' From Eye on the World: Hezbollah conducting simulations in case of Hariri indictments, 'Asharq Alawsat' reports; retired general...
- The Powderkeg
This is not getting the print it should. With decisions waiting on the Hariri assassination, and if it is decided that leaders of Hezbollah and those close to Syrian President Assad were involved then Hezbollah, backed by Iran and resurgent in Lebanon,...
- It's So Hard To Read The Tea Leaves, Eh? Lebanon Rejected By U.s. On Arms Deal, Signs 5-year Pact With Iran
Iran and Lebanon have agreed on military cooperation and are discussing weapons deals. Officials said Beirut and Teheran were considering the sale of Iranian weapons to the Lebanese Army. They said Lebanon sought combat platforms and...
- What's Happening In Beirut?
Here's a report from Michael Travis: I have been anxiously monitoring Al Manar and Al Jazeera television for the last three days. Lebanon is poised to explode once again, courtesy of the Hezbullah and their Iranian puppet-masters. The Legitimate...
Green Energy
Jerusalem Post:
Analysis: Ahmadinejad to issue warning in Lebanon
By JONATHAN SPYER
13/10/2010
Beyond providing the Iranian president with a venue where he can speak without being heckled, he is coming to Lebanon to deliver a warning.
Preparations are complete for the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon. Iranian flags and portraits of the distinguished visitor have been placed along the road from Rafik Hariri International Airport to Beirut. A soccer stadium in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is ready to receive the thronging mass of Shia Lebanese well-wishers who will greet the Iranian president. In Bint Jbail, a large replica of the Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem has been constructed, with an Iranian flag atop it.
The speeches Ahmadinejad will give in Beirut and in Bint Jbail will no doubt contain the requisite exhortations to “resistance” and blood sacrifice. There will be much trumpeting of the “divine victory” of 2006 and tribute to the “martyrs.”
But the trip’s purpose is not merely ceremonial. Beyond providing Ahmadinejad with a venue where he can speak without being heckled – a luxury not so easily available to him in his own country anymore – the Iranian president is coming to Lebanon to deliver a warning.
As Fares Soueid of the Lebanese March 14 alliance put it, “The message is that Iran is at the border with Israel... Ahmadinejad, through this visit, is saying that Beirut is under Iranian influence and that Lebanon is an Iranian base on the Mediterranean... The Iranian president is here to say that Lebanon is a land of resistance and to reaffirm his project of a continuous war with Israel.”
With regard to Israel, this merely confirms an existing reality. The border has been in a state of heightened tension since the killing of an IDF lieutenant-colonel by a Lebanese army sniper two months ago.
The area has played host to furious Iranian-financed civil and military construction over the last four years. This has taken place under the noses and with the tacit acquiescence of both the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL.
Ahmadinejad’s visit will showcase and confirm this. It may even have the effect of briefly focusing rare media attention on it. But beyond this, for Israel the trip consists, as one newspaper put it, of a largely “symbolic visit” by the “man who calls the shots” in south Lebanon.
Ahmadinejad’s arrival is of greater significance, however, with regard to the very tense internal Lebanese situation.
The UN-backed special tribunal investigating the murder of former prime minister Rafik Hariri is rumored to be preparing to issue indictments against Hizbullah members for involvement in the killing. There are real fears that this could ignite renewed political violence in Lebanon.
Nawwaf al-Moussawi, a Hizbullah MP in the Lebanese parliament, recently warned that any Lebanese who accepts the international tribunal’s indictment findings would be killed as a “collaborator” with Israel and the US.
The Ahmadinejad visit is a show of support for Hizbullah from its Iranian patron, in the buildup to possible renewed internal strife.
Iranian security personnel are currently present in Lebanon, and are working in cooperation with Hizbullah.
There have been suggestions that the visit could herald the beginning of an attempt by Hizbullah to seize control of Lebanon. Hizbullah has, in its own inimitable way, sought to simultaneously calm these fears and remind its opponents of their helplessness. The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said recently that if Hizbullah had wished to take over the country, it could have done so in 2005 or 2006, but that it had no such desire.
The reports of an upcoming coup are probably overblown. But Ahmadinejad’s appearance on the scene will exacerbate fears. This is undoubtedly what the Iranian president wants. The charged atmosphere around his visit will serve as an ominous warning to opponents of the local Iranian franchise, at a particularly tense time.
The casting of Iran as the sponsor of “resistance” is a core part of Ahmadinejad’s regional strategy. Financing, arming and maintaining the two remaining active fronts of the Israeli-Arab conflict (the Hamas enclave in Gaza being the second) despite Iran’s non-Arab and non-Sunni nature is a key part of Teheran’s bid for regional leadership.
The Islamist regime in Teheran is today rocked by sanctions and internal dissent. But the regime will be determined to allow nothing as nebulous as international law to interfere with the franchise on the Mediterranean in which it has invested so much.
So Ahmadinejad is in Lebanon as a reminder of who really dominates that country – in possible anticipation of a further, more direct reminder if and when the Hariri Tribunal issues indictments.
-
Jerusalem Post: Hizbullah takeover in Lebanon likely, Ashkenazi warns By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF 11/15/2010 19:15 During Canada visit, IDF chief of staff says publication of Hariri tribunal's findings will likely lead to coup d'etat in...
-
'Hezbollah plans to seize power in Beirut', if Hariri indictments come down - can do it 'in 3 days' From Eye on the World: Hezbollah conducting simulations in case of Hariri indictments, 'Asharq Alawsat' reports; retired general...
- The Powderkeg
This is not getting the print it should. With decisions waiting on the Hariri assassination, and if it is decided that leaders of Hezbollah and those close to Syrian President Assad were involved then Hezbollah, backed by Iran and resurgent in Lebanon,...
- It's So Hard To Read The Tea Leaves, Eh? Lebanon Rejected By U.s. On Arms Deal, Signs 5-year Pact With Iran
Iran and Lebanon have agreed on military cooperation and are discussing weapons deals. Officials said Beirut and Teheran were considering the sale of Iranian weapons to the Lebanese Army. They said Lebanon sought combat platforms and...
- What's Happening In Beirut?
Here's a report from Michael Travis: I have been anxiously monitoring Al Manar and Al Jazeera television for the last three days. Lebanon is poised to explode once again, courtesy of the Hezbullah and their Iranian puppet-masters. The Legitimate...