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Hezbollah stronger than ever as Ahmadinejad visits
Iranian-backed militia is a threat to Israel and Lebanon, if sources are to be believed
Tensions are rising ominously along Lebanon's volatile border with Israel as the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepares to visit villages in South Lebanon which came under heavy attack from Israeli forces during the 2006 war.
Sources in Tehran have reported that Ahmadinejad plans to hurl a symbolic stone or two at positions occupied by Israeli troops just a few metres from the dividing line in the course of Wednesday's formal opening of a garden park, paid for by Iran, that commemorates the fighters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia killed in the bloody month-long conflict.
Such a provocative gesture from the man who has previously denied the Holocaust and called for the destruction of the Jewish state is guaranteed to outrage the government in Jerusalem, which has exerted heavy diplomatic pressure to get Ahmadinejad's trip called off.
Meanwhile, Israeli security insiders are telling anyone who will listen that Iran is rapidly rearming the hardline Islamic guerillas: their leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has boasted publicly that Hezbollah now possesses some 40,000 missiles, almost three times as many as in 2006.
A senior militia official hinted recently that these may include long-range Scuds capable of hitting targets anywhere in Israel as well as advanced anti-aircraft weapons.
Hezbollah has also indicated that any strike by Israel or the US on Iran's nuclear facilities would force it to consider military retaliation.
One leading Middle East think tank warned last month that resumption of hostilities in South Lebanon would probably be more destructive than previous clashes, raising the risk of Iran and Syria, the militia's other main sponsor, being sucked in.
According to first-hand reports from the frontier region, Hezbollah has launched a major recruitment drive among the mainly Shia population, where its tough guerillas are seen as resistance heroes: solid new houses being constructed in the rugged hill country facing the border would provide them with firing positions in the event of resumed ground fighting, while a network of Iranian-financed tarmac roads now connects the militia's strongholds.
Although Hezbollah's political wing rejoined Lebanon's coalition government two years ago, the Iranian leader's visit could hardly have come at a more awkward moment for the nation. There is feverish speculation that some members of Hezbollah will soon be indicted by the UN-backed special tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in central Beirut, an act that inflamed already deep sectarian divisions.
Sheikh Nasrallah has accused the tribunal of driving the country into "a very sensitive and complicated stage", vowing that he will never hand over any of his followers for trial.
Some analysts see Ahmadinejad's controversial excursion to the border zone as a blunt reminder from Tehran that having fought so effectively against the Israelis, its proxy militia is more than capable of defeating the feeble Lebanese army should political tensions boil over. ·
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Jewish propaganda? Them crafty Jews! Luring a Persian man minding his own business into a trap. One minute he is contributing to the ambitions of the Lebanese Tourist Board, the next he is trixed into throwing stones at a magical tower of evil which unbeknown to him is an Israeli border post. Palestine's problems will never be solved by such thinking(or should that be lack of thought. Then again perhaps you are a crafty Jew up to Jedi mind tricks and propaganda)
I agree with Deloki.
At least two points I'm this article have been twisted to curry support for Zionist occupied Palestine. The first is that Achmajinadad denied the holocaust (he merly provided a forum for people to question some of the accepted notions about it). The second is that he called for "the destruction of Isreal". That is a patent lie. What he called for was regime change,(sound familiar?).
While I really dislike this man, I need to give credit where credit is due. He stands against tha fascist regime of Zionist Occupied Palestine when nations which claim to stand for justice not only say nothing, they overtly and covertly support the racism, land theft, murder etc. Of ZOP
Israel has at least 200 nuclear warheads that would demolish Iran as well the latest Military equipment from the United States supplied by the American taxpayer. How can any sane person compare Hezbollah with the IDF which is the 4th most powerful army in the world, never mind the vast US military forces deployed against Iran in the Gulf region. This seems to be the usual Jewish propaganda ploy that is used to precipitate an attack on its neighbours or the defencless people of Gaza.
Philip Jacobstein is right, there is more to this than meets the eye. Do the Iranians already have the bomb (or two or three, courtesy of their neighbours or N Korea) which may be rained upon Israel as one (or two) missiles of a retaliatory undefensible salvo of 40,000 from Hizbollah nearby? A 12mth supply of Oatibix might seem to be in order soon.