 "From Iranian funds & ideology to Russian arms, here’s how Hezbollah draws power for war on Israel & US")
As Israel continues to hammer Hezbollah in Lebanon , the Middle East is increasingly getting into uncharted territory.
While all Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, such as the Palestinian Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Yemeni Houthis, are often dubbed as Iranian proxies, no group comes close to Hezbollah when it comes to being integrated with Iran.
Hamas, Houthis, and other groups in the Middle East part are backed by Iran under the banner of ‘Axis of Resistance’ but they have independent origin stories — even if enmity to the United States and Israel is common among them. Hezbollah, however, has had an Iranian hand from the onset.
The centrality of Iran in Hezbollah can be understood from the fact that Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, the Iranian Ambassador to Syria at the time, was among the co-founders of Hezbollah in 1982. Unlike Hamas or Houthis which have independent ideologies, Hezbollah draws his ideology from Iran.
Here we trace the many sources of Hezbollah’s power: ideology, funds, and weapons.
Hezbollah is Iran’s ideological sword arm
Among the major Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, Hezbollah is the only proxy of Iran in the true sense of the world — and it is not just because a top Iranian official is a co-founder of Hezbollah.
Even as other Iran-backed groups like Hamas and Houthis have their own ideologies, Hezbollah is formally committed to Iran’s ideology. It has sworn allegiance to the Supreme Leader of Iran: first Ruhollah Khomeini and then Ali Khamenei.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHezbollah’s 1985 manifesto states: “We are the sons of the ‘umma’ —the party of God (Hizb Allah) the vanguard of which was made victorious by God in Iran.”
The ‘ummah’ is a term used for the world’s Muslim community. The globalist Islamist groups like the Islamic State and al-Qaeda and regimes like Iran do not always believe in the idea of a nation-state but in one large Islamic community the world over called ‘ummah’.
Hezbollah is also committed to “one leader, wise and just, that of our tutor and faqih (jurist) who fulfils all the necessary conditions: [Ayatollah] Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini”.
In an interview in 2012, Hezbollah’s second-in-command Naim Qassem said that vilayat-e faqih, an Islamist ideology popularised by Khomeini to seize power in Iran, was “the reason for Hezbollah’s establishment”.
Just like Iran, Hezbollah considers the United States as the main enemy. Iran considers the United States as the ‘Great Satan’ and considers Israel as its imperialist outpost in the Middle East and is committed to Israel’s destruction.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran has been central in the group’s ideological, moral, financial, and armed upbringing ever since it was founded with Iran’s involvement, says Muddassir Quamar, a scholar of Middle East at the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies (SIS).
The IRGC is the vastly influential intelligence and armed force of Iran that operates separately from the regular military and reports directly to the Supreme Leader.
How Hezbollah gets funds from Iran & elsewhere
Iran remains the main financier of Hezbollah even though the group has developed some other avenues of income as well.
The US government in 2018 said that Iran provided up $700 million in funds annually to Hezbollah.
Moreover, during 2006-09, when Hezbollah also fought a war with Israel, a separate estimate said that the Iranian funding was to the tune of $1 billion.
Hezbollah also draws funds from elsewhere. In 2009, Rand Corporation reported that Hezbollah received up to $20 million from its activities in Latin America.
Hezbollah is also engaged in the transnational drug trade and makes money from the illicit trade, according to the US government.
The Hezbollah has been linked to South American drug cartels that provide drugs, such as cocaine, to the United States and Europe.
Hezbollah is also part of the oil trade between Syria, Iran, and Russia, which is a major source of revenue for these revenues. Iran, along with other groups in the region, also makes money off the trade.
Weapons from Iran, Russia & North Korea
Hezbollah has often been termed as the most powerful non-state actor in the world.
Hezbollah has up to 150,000 missiles and rockets and around 45,000 fighters, 20,000 of whom are full-time personnel, according to a public assessment of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Hezbollah chief Nasrallah, however, has said that the group has up to 100,000 fighters.
While much of the weaponry is from Iran, there are also indications that Russia has also provided arms to Hezbollah. Some of the most notable weapon systems with the group are Russian.
Hezbollah is understood to have Russian guided anti-tank missile Kornet, Russian anti-ship missile Yakhont, and Russian Katyusha rockets, according to Reuters.
As for the Iranian weapons, the news agency reported that Hezbollah uses rockets Raad, Fajr, Zilzal, and Falaq 2, and guided missile al-Mas.
In 2021, Israeli think tank Alma reported that North Korea also helped Hezbollah build a network of tunnels to hide the weapons after the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War.
Through the 2000s, North Korea also supplied weapons and parts to Hezbollah by routing them through Iran and then assembling them in Syria before finally shipping to the group in Lebanon, according to a report by the Brookings Institution.
Diplomatic support from Russia, Arab world
Russia and the Arab world have at times given tacit approval to Hezbollah.
Russia has said that it does not consider Hezbollah or Hamas terrorist organisations.
Earlier this year, the Arab League removed the terrorist designation of Hezbollah amid the Israel-Hamas War.
Even though the Arab League the removal of the designation was to initiate contact with the group in times of crisis, some observers wondered whether it was a sign of a tacit support amid the long-running Arab-Israel conflict.
Close links with Hamas & Houthis
Hezbollah has been closely linked to other Iran-backed groups in the region like Hamas and Yemen-based Houthis.
Iran supports these anti-US and -Israel groups under the banner of the ‘Axis of Resistance’.
Even though Hamas and Hezbollah are fairly different in their makeup and objectives, their common enmity with Israel means they have coordinated their activities against the Jewish nation.
Following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah also opened a front against Israel in the country’s north along the border with Lebanon. Several thousands of Israelis have been displaced because of the near-daily clashes since then.
Even though Hezbollah is not a Palestinian organisation, it has linked its fighting to the Israel-Hezbollah War and has said a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will also mean a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
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