Hezbollah

Tensions in Lebanon have reached a high point in recent days. It is not because of the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

It has been six months since the daily fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted. But it is still difficult to envision a "closing mechanism" that will put an end to the hostilities.

Last week, the arrest and interrogation of Makram Rabah, a history lecturer at the American University of Beirut and an outspoken critic of Hezbollah, put the focus on one of Hezbollah's primary tools of handling opposition voices to its policies: silencing them.

It’s no secret that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s support is critical in facilitating the activities of Hezbollah, one of its most powerful proxies.

The tension between Hezbollah and Israel keeps rising. While attempts to reach a diplomatic agreement to prevent further escalation have thus far failed, another aspect of Lebanese complexities has come into view, namely the complex interplay between the Shia Amal Party and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This week, Lebanon marks the 19th anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri on February 14, 2005. The attack was the most high-profile political murder in the country since the end of the civil war in 1989.

This month will mark the 16th anniversary of the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s top military commander, in the suburbs of Damascus on February 12, 2008.

As the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel continues along the Israeli-Lebanese border for the third month now, fears of an all-out war are rising. Two events in recent weeks are contemporary examples of how Hezbollah operates in Lebanon on the strategic and domestic internal levels. They demonstrate how Hezbollah has overtaken and dominated the Lebanese state.

Over the years and through numerous speeches and articles published by the Hezbollah leadership, there is a conceptual framework for its use of military power against Israel.

An Argentine court reportedly decided on January 8 to order a Boeing 747 plane—previously owned by the Islamic Republic’s state airline company Mahan Air—to be returned to U.S. jurisdiction. If the order takes effect, it will hinder cooperation between two anti-American regimes: Iran and Venezuela.