[Sunday Times-UK] Amir Taheri - Since 1984 Iran has created branches of Hizballah in more than 20 countries. In Lebanon, Hizballah is a state within a state, controlling 25 percent of the national territory, 400,000 inhabitants, and collecting its own taxes. It runs its own schools, where a syllabus produced in Iran is taught at all levels. Hizballah also has a satellite television channel, Al-Manar (the lighthouse), which is watched all over the Arab world, four radio stations, newspapers, and magazines. It operates its own police force, courts, and prisons. The Hizballah's militia is a fighting force of 8,000 men, trained and armed with the latest weapons by Iran and Syria. Once you enter Hizballah land (in south Beirut), the scene changes, you feel you are in Qom, the Iranian holy city. Billboards feature giant portraits of Khomeini and Iranian "supreme guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Ahmadinejad believes that his strategy to drive the "infidel" out of the Islamic heartland cannot succeed unless Arabs accept Iran's leadership. The problem is that the Iranian regime is Shi'ite while most Arabs are Sunni. To overcome that, it is necessary to persuade the Arabs that only Iran is sincere in its desire and capacity to wipe Israel off the map.
2006-07-25 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive