Anniversary of U.S. Designation of Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization

Hezbollah Remains an Enduring Threat

(New York, N.Y.) – Twenty three years ago, on October 8, 1997, the U.S. Department of State designated Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Hezbollah, long recognized as a proxy of Iran’s theocratic regime, has morphed into a state within a state in Lebanon. It has served as a threat both at home and abroad—hobbling reforms to the Lebanese state, paralyzing governments, and terrorizing the region.

Mustapha Adib, who was named as Lebanon’s prime minister-designate on August 31, recently quit over the refusal of Hezbollah and its allies to relinquish control over the Finance Ministry. The U.S. State Department revealed last month that Hezbollah had stockpiled caches of ammonium nitrate throughout Europe for use in Iran-directed terror attacks. That’s not to mention Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s warning in September before the U.N. General Assembly about Hezbollah’s recklessness in locating one of its arms depots next to gas facilities in Beirut. This increases the risk of an explosion, similar to the one at the Port of Beirut. It’s clear that over two decades after its designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the Party of God continues to present a clear and present danger to international peace and security. With Germany recently banning Hezbollah in its entirety, it should use its current presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) to push France and the rest of the EU to support sanctions against both Hezbollah’s military and political wings.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)’s comprehensive website, Eye on Hezbollah (available at www.hezbollah.org), analyzes Hezbollah’s structure, policies, and offers a timeline of its hostilities. It also outlines how the organization evolved into being the tip of Iran’s spear of terror. UANI’s resource, Iran’s Proxy Wars, details Hezbollah’s influence on Lebanon’s government.

To explore Eye on Hezbollah, please click here.

To view UANI’s resource, Iran’s Proxy Wars, please click here.

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