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Hizbullah's Veneration of Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Shimon Shapira - Iranian leader Ali Khamenei is much more esteemed in Lebanon than in Iran. The total veneration of Khamenei highlights one of the important attributes of the Imam in the Shiite faith, which views him as an infallible figure who is clairvoyant and makes correct decisions. At a conference in Beirut on June 6, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah described Khamenei's special status in Hizbullah as the one who has dictated the Shiite movement's strategic steps in Lebanon at the crucial moments of its history. Hashem Safieddin, Nasrallah's designated successor, noted: "Without the direct, minute by minute, command and supervision of Grand Ayatollah Khamenei, Hizbullah would not have achieved its great victory against Zionism and America" in the Second Lebanon War. Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira is a senior research associate at the Jerusalem Center.