Iran

Iran’s Supreme Leader Meets with the Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad

On June 14, for the first time since 2018, Iran’s supreme leader met publicly with the Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah. Khamenei remarked, "today, the Zionist enemy is in a passive and reactive position. The present situation shows that the Resistance groups and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have rightly identified the path and are proceeding wisely on it.” In a nod to the uptick in terrorist attacks emanating from the West Bank, Khamenei added, “the growing power of the resistance groups in the West Bank is the key to bringing the Zionist enemy to its knees, and this path must continue.” This indicates the continued risk-readiness of Iran to create the conditions of a multi-front battle with Israel.

Lebanon and Hezbollah

U.S. Releases and Deports Alleged Hezbollah Financier to Lebanon

The U.S. released an alleged Hezbollah financier 23 years after being sentenced to life in prison for funneling money to the Iran-backed group and leading a cigarette smuggling ring throughout the United States and Canada. Mohamad Youssef Hammoud, initially sentenced to 155 years, was serving a 30-year prison term. It is unclear why he was released ahead of schedule, but it comes amid reports of an arrangement to release the U.S. hostages in Iran.

He was seen being carried on the shoulders of friends and family upon arriving in Beirut on Wednesday. Shortly after landing, Hammoud had multiple interviews with Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets. Hammoud vehemently denied accusations that he sent money to Hezbollah. “I would be proud to send money to Hezbollah, and I could say I sent money to Hezbollah. But in 1999…I did not send a penny to Lebanon,” he said in one video, sitting in front of a portrait of Iran’s supreme leader, Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, and the slain Qassem Soleimani.

Hammoud alleges that he was set up by another Lebanese man in the U.S. who was arrested for various charges. He was subsequently given a lesser sentence for providing information about Hammoud. Hammoud says the man provided false information to U.S. authorities. U.S. authorities arrested Hammoud in 2000 after he illegally entered the country eight years earlier. He was arrested after a multi-agency investigation involving looking into his support for Hezbollah.

Argentina Seeks Arrest of 4 Lebanese Suspects In 1994 Bombing of AMIA Jewish Center

Argentina on Thursday sought an international arrest warrant for four Lebanese citizens suspected of involvement in a devastating attack at a Jewish center in Buenos Aires in 1994. The AMIA Jewish center bombing, allegedly carried out by Hezbollah terrorists funded by Iran, killed 85 and injured hundreds. A judge granted a prosecutor’s request to seek a warrant from Interpol based on reasonable suspicion that the four were “employees or operational agents” of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy.

The four are Hussein Mounir Mouzannar, Ali Hussein Abdallah, Farouk Abdul Hay Omairi, and Abdallah Salman (aka El Reda). They are thought to reside in Paraguay, Brazil, or the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

Hezbollah Executive Council Chairman Safieddine: Hezbollah Will Take Fight Inside Israel

Hashem Safieddine, the Chairman of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, gave a three-part interview to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, during which he vowed that the Resistance Axis would transfer its fight against Israel into the borders of the Jewish State in the next phase of the struggle.

During the third part of the interview, Safieddine falsely claimed that Israeli aspirations for statehood had initially stretched from the Nile to the Euphrates. “Today,” he claimed, “they have reduced their expectations to a country within this wall [e.g., the security barrier with the West Bank and the 1948 region], calling this zone a Jewish state,” he said, suggesting this Israeli contraction had occurred under pressure from the so-called Resistance. “They have lost control of Gaza and part of the West Bank as well. They built a wall to protect themselves,” Safieddine stressed.

He added, “The situation will become worse for Israel. Who could imagine that so many weapons and young Palestinian fighters might exist in Nablus and Jenin? The day will come when operations will be carried out inside the 1948 regions participated by the resistance, something that Israel will not even imagine.”

Syria

Israel Conducts Airstrike in Syria

Israeli jets carried out airstrikes near Damascus early Wednesday, wounding a Syrian soldier, state news agency SANA said. During more than a decade of war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, and Syrian army positions. An AFP correspondent reported that explosions were heard in the Syrian capital early Wednesday.