Foreign relations of Hezbollah

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Hezbollah has a Foreign Relations Unit (Arabic: وحدة العلاقات الخارجية, romanized: Wahdat al-‘Ilāqāt al-khārijiyya) and maintains relations with a number of foreign countries and entities.[1] These are particularly Shia states, but also Sunni groups like those affiliated with the Palestinian cause; and the group is also suggested to have operations outside the Middle East in places such as Latin America[2][3] and North Korea.[4]

Hezbollah has especially close relations with Iran,[5] with the Alawite leadership in Syria, specifically with President Hafez al-Assad (until his death in 2000) and his son and successor Bashar al-Assad,[6] and has sent fighters in support of Assad in the Syrian Civil War. Hezbollah declared its support for the now-concluded Al-Aqsa Intifada.

There is little evidence of ongoing Hezbollah contact or cooperation with al-Qaeda.[7] Hezbollah's leaders deny links to al-Qaeda, present or past.[7][8] Al-Qaeda leaders, such as former al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,[9] consider Shia, which most Hezbollah members are, to be apostates, as do Salafi-jihadis today.[10][11]

The 9/11 Commission Report, however, found that several al-Qaeda operatives and top military commanders were sent to Hezbollah training camps in Lebanon in 1994.[12]

  1. ^ Daher, Aurélie (2018), "A Fighting Shiism Faces the World: The Foreign Policy of Hezbollah" (PDF), in Adraoui, Mohamed-Ali (ed.), The Foreign Policy of Islamist Political Parties: Ideology in Practice, Edinburgh University Press, p. 132, ISBN 978-1-4744-2666-4
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Security was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ha'aretz Archived 17 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine 14 August 2008, UN: We've cleared half the cluster bombs Israel dropped on Lebanon By Shlomo Shamir
  4. ^ Hughes, Chris (11 August 2017). "North Korea crisis could increase risk of larger attacks from ISIS". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  5. ^ "A Lebanese fragment: two days with Hizbollah". openDemocracy. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2006.
  6. ^ "Syria and Hezbollah: A Loveless Alliance". Archived from the original on 17 July 2006.
  7. ^ a b Tehran, Washington, And Terror: No Agreement To Differ Archived 10 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine by A. W. Samii, Middle East Review of International Affairs, Volume 6, No. 3, September 2002 – citing Al-Majallah, 24 – 30 March 2002 and Al-Watan 19 March 2002
  8. ^ Stinson, Jeffrey (28 July 2006). "Hezbollah spurns al-Qaeda". USA Today. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  9. ^ BBC News (2 June 2006). "'Zarqawi tape' urges Sunni unrest". Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2006.
  10. ^ Jerusalem Post, 5 August 2006 Saudi religious leader blasts Hizbullah Archived 3 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 6 August 2006
  11. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  12. ^ 9/11 Commission Report Archived 23 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine p. 85 – citing U.S. intelligence reports