Lebanon

Hezbollah’s Al-Ahed: Putin’s Speech Foils U.S. Scheme in Ukraine

On February 22, 2022 Hezbollah’s official newspaper Al-Ahed carried an interview with a Russian diplomat identified as “Dr. Sergei Faribov,” – about whom there is no other information online – claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech declaring the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk was a declaration of “goodwill and not war against Ukraine.” Al-Ahed also quoted former Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin as saying that Russia’s recognition of the independence of the two separatist regions “spared the region a pointless war to serve American interests.” Despite these claims, Russia invaded Ukraine without any provocation the next day. 

Faribov also alleged that declaring the independence of these separatist regions of Ukraine “foiled an American scheme to embroil Russia in distracting wars to shrink its influence in Europe.” However, Faribov claimed in the interview that the danger of war remained “because of continued Ukrainian agitation and [its] insistence on carrying out the American agenda.” 

Other Hezbollah-linked outlets also repeated Russian propaganda regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. An article in Al-Khanadeq noted that “this crisis was not born in recent days or months, but has been brewing for years, and the United States had the biggest role in it,” and repeated the Russian version of the chronology of events that began in 2014 with the Russian annexation of Crimea and Russian separatist uprising in Donbas. 

Al-Akhbar created a page of op-eds dedicated to the Ukrainian-Russian crisis which signaled support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. One article, despite criticizing Putin’s “nationalist” tone in his speech declaring Russian recognition of the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, celebrated the war on Ukraine’s implications for the U.S.-dominated world order. It noted that “none of this [i.e. the war or Putin’s nationalism] should stop us from feeling joy; joy connected to the direction in which the global balance of power is headed. Putin’s actions made clear the reality that the world is divided into two camps: Western and Eastern. We don’t need to decide yet where we stand. What’s important is how we understand what’s happening, and that we look at what’s happening from the perspective of what we can gain, we the people of the [global] south.” In particular, the article noted that the war and U.S. sanctions on Russia would lead Moscow – and the Global South with it – to seek alternatives, to live outside of the Western-dominated financial, economic, and world order. Another article painted the Russian aggression against Ukraine as a defensive move aimed to prevent NATO’s encirclement of Russia. And yet another article criticized the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the Ministry’s position “reflected a deep lack of understanding of the global balance of power, and stems from stupidity in dealing with world conflicts.” The article noted that this position ignored and harmed Lebanese interests, including the presence of thousands of Lebanese students, businessmen, and investments in Russia, and stemmed from Lebanese subservience to the United States.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Gives Interview to Al-Manar on Predecessor Abbas al-Mousaoui’s Annual Death Anniversary 

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah gave an extensive interview to Al-Manar on Wednesday. Much of the interview was taken up by Nasrallah repeating his now well-known propaganda and talking points, but a considerable portion of it was devoted to detailing his decades-long relationship with his predecessor Abbas al-Mousaoui, who was killed in an Israeli strike on February 16, 1992.

Nasrallah said he first met al-Mousaoui in December of 1976, in Najaf, Iraq, when Nasrallah was 16 years old. Al-Mousaoui soon became the young Nasrallah’s mentor, taking him to meet the Iraqi Shiite cleric Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr, a proponent of the ideology of velayat-e faqih who imparted it to al-Mousaoui, which Nasrallah said “was personified in Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.” Nasrallah also noted that Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr dispatched al-Mousaoui back to Lebanon to establish a religious hawza in Baalbek.

Nasrallah continued, addressing the rise of Hezbollah, saying that when the Israeli invasion of Lebanon occurred, both he and al-Mousaoui were in Tehran. They soon returned to Lebanon, and became determined to confront the invading Israeli troops, leading to the formation of Hezbollah in the same hawza in Baalbek that had been established by al-Mousaoui at Mohammad Baqer al-Sadr’s request, and with the “happy coincidence” of the presence of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel. Nasrallah also revealed that Hezbollah’s first “military base” was established in this hawza. He also said that al-Mousaoui was present during the first training exercise held in this base, accompanied by Mohammad Raad, the current head of Hezbollah’s “Loyalty to the Resistance” parliamentary bloc. 

Report on Hezbollah’s Secretary-General’s Travel to Iran

On February 16, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah made a rare trip two months ago from his bunker in Lebanon to Tehran, where Iranian officials reportedly pressed him on their expectation that Hezbollah will respond militarily to any Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. This report, if true, is significant as it comes after Nasrallah indicated in a speech earlier in February that Hezbollah would not necessarily retaliate if Israel were to attack Iran’s nuclear program.

Israel and Syria 

Israel Conducts Airstrikes in Syria

Israel reportedly carried out an airstrike in Syria on Thursday morning, firing several missiles toward Syrian military positions near the capital Damascus early Thursday, killing three soldiers and causing material damage, state media reported. 

Thursday’s attack was the second Israeli strike against targets in Syria this week. On Wednesday, Syrian state media reported that Israel had fired several surface-to-surface missiles from the Golan Heights towards sites in Quneitra near the border, causing some material damage. Independent reports indicated that the targets of the strikes were near Madinat al-Baath and Rwihinah, both located near the border with Israel. 

Iraq 

Drone Shot Down Heading to Erbil

On February 13, Iraqi media reported that air defenses shot down a drone heading to Erbil from the eastern borders of Iraq, following a few drones being detected in that area. These reports suggested the drone may have been sent to attack U.S.-led Coalition forces stationed in Erbil, which have been targeted before in that area by Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Israeli media later reported that its defense establishment is preparing for the possibility of a drone attack from Iran, and that there are fears that the drones launched from Iraq, which were separately downed on Tuesday, were headed towards Israeli territory. This would not be the first time that Israeli officials alleged that a drone launched from Iraq may have been headed towards Israel. In May 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls in Gaza, Israel’s then prime minister alleged an armed drone had been sent by Iran from Iraq or Syria, which the Israeli military downed.

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