Iranian State Sponsorship of Terror and War Against the United States

[onedomino]

The full text of Matthew Levitt's testimony before Congress is about three times longer than that permitted in a USMB post. But it is worth taking the time to read (see link below). Such material is never reported by the MSM. As a result, the American public remains unaware of the magnitide of the US - Iranian conflict. It is nearly impossible to read Levitt's testimony (extremely well documented; there are over 100 footnotes) and not come away with the impression that America is in an undeclared state of war with Iran. I have copied to this post the five main categories of Iranian terrorism discussed in Levitt's testimony. A selection from each category is included below. This is just a weak summary; check out the link. You will be amazed at the magnitude of Iranian terrorism and war against the United States.

Iranian State Sponsorship of Terror:
Threatening U.S. Security, Global Stability, and Regional Peace
Testimony of Matthew A. Levitt
Senior Fellow and Director of Terrorism Studies
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
February 16, 2005
Joint Hearing of the Committee on International Relations
Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, and the
Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation
United States House of Representatives

http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/html/pdf/Iran-Testimony-2-16-05.pdf

TARGETING ISRAEL AND THE PEACE PROCESS
Iran has long been believed to fund Hezbollah to the tune of at least $100 million per year. Recently, Western diplomats and analysts in Lebanon estimated Hezbollah receives closer to $200 million a year from Iran. The increase is likely due to Iran’s keen interest in undermining prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace (and, in general, further destabilizing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), and Hezbollah’s growing role as Iran’s proxy to achieve this goal.

IRANIAN TERRORIST ACTIVITY
Iranian agents have long been directly involved in acts of terrorism themselves and in concert with Hezbollah networks, beyond the terrorist activities carried out independently by the proxy groups sponsored by Tehran.
...another example is the involvement of senior Hezbollah operatives and Iranian agents in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia. Ahmad Ibrahim al-Mughassil, who is wanted by the FBI for his role in the Khobar Towers bombing, is believed to enjoy safe haven in Iran. Several of the Hezbollah operatives received terrorist training in Iran, and the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria, served as “an important source of logistics and support for Saudi Hezbollah members traveling to and from Lebanon.” According to the indictment of the terrorists behind the attack, “the attack would serve Iran by driving the Americans from the Gulf region.” Former FBI director Louis Freeh has said that FBI agents interviewed six of the Hezbollah members who carried out the attack, and “all of them directly implicated the IRGC, MOIS and senior Iranian government officials in the planning and execution of the attack.” Throughout these and many other cases, a key common thread is the direct contact each cell maintains to senior Hezbollah and/or Iranian intelligence operatives.

IRANIAN TIES TO AL QAEDA
While the 9/11 Commission found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah had advance knowledge of the September 11 plot, the commission’s report does note that Iran and Hezbollah provided assistance to al-Qaeda on several occasions. For example, al-Qaeda operatives were allowed to travel through Iran with great ease. Entry stamps were not put in Saudi operatives' passports at the border, though at least eight of the September 11 hijackers transited the country between October 2000 and February 2001. The report also noted a "persistence of contacts between Iranian security officials and senior al-Qaeda figures" and drew attention to an informal agreement by which Iran would support al-Qaeda training with the understanding that such training would be used "for actions carried out primarily against Israel and the United States.”

RADICALIZATION
Beyond training and arming Hezbollah, Iran bankrolls the group’s well-oiled propaganda machine as well. Al-Manar is the official television mouthpiece of Hezbollah, and is used by Hezbollah and Iran to radicalize Muslim youth and glorify violence, especially in the contexts of Israel and Iraq. Called the “station of resistance” – it serves as Hezbollah’s tool to reach the entire Arab Muslim world to disseminate propaganda and promote terrorist activity. Al-Manar glorifies suicide bombings, calls for attacks targeting Israel, coalition forces in Iraq, and the United States, and seeks to create a radicalized constituency that is as likely to seek out terrorist groups themselves to join their ranks as they are to be sought after and recruited by these groups.

IRANIAN AND HEZBOLLAH ACTIVITIES IN IRAQ
Iran has been proactively involved in undermining U.S. and Coalition interests in Iraq for months. Iranian clerics, agents from the IRGC, and Hezbollah operatives have all been involved in undermining U.S. efforts in the region by radicalizing the population, gathering intelligence, and taking steps to garner support for their cause.
Since May 2003, more than 2,000 Iranian-sponsored clerics have reportedly crossed the border from Iran into Iraq. These clerics bring with them incitement materials such as books, CDs and tapes to distribute to the Iraqi people in an effort to promote militant Islam. Furthermore, Iranian dissident sources maintain that the IRGC’s Qods Force established armed underground cells in southern Iraq, a Shi’i dominated area.

CONCLUSION
Iran is indeed the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. The sheer scope of Iranian terrorist activity is remarkable, including both the terrorism carried out by Iranian-supported terrorist groups and by Iranian agents themselves. But the Iranian terrorist threat is especially dangerous since it threatens key United States security interests and American citizens alike.
First, Iran and its proxies present a direct threat to the United States both at home and abroad, including U.S. and coalition forces overseas. Consider the Iranian security personnel caught surveilling targets in New York. Second, Iran, along with its primary proxy, Hezbollah, is the single most dangerous threat to the prospects of securing Arab-Israeli peace. Consider Palestinian fears that Iran and Hezbollah are actively trying to torpedo the nascent ceasefire and possibly assassinate Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Third, Iran is fully engaged in undermining coalition efforts in Iraq. Note the infiltration of Iranian agents and the recent announcement that eighteen Hezbollah members have been arrested there.
It is critical that the international effort to rein in Iran’s nuclear weapons program include an equally concerted effort to forestall its state sponsorship of terrorism. Failure to do so guarantees Iran and its proxies will continue to undermine Israeli-Arab peace negotiations, conduct surveillance of U.S., Israeli and other targets for possible terrorist attack, and destabilize Iraq.

 

[Annie]

Agreed, I'll take the time to read later, but all one needs to see is the agreement between Iran and Syria to know the truth of this.

 

[Annie]

due to you, I found this thread again. Iran is definately on the terror list:

Hezzbolah/Hamas:

CIA officials regularly describe Iran as “the foremost state sponsor of terror.”1 President Bush reaffirmed this assessment in his recent State of the Union address, saying, "Today, Iran remains the world's primary state sponsor of terror.”2 And earlier this month, British Prime Minister Tony Blair echoed the U.S. government’s perception of Iran, saying Iran “certainly does sponsor terrorism. There is no doubt about that at all.”3

To be sure, Iran’s support for Lebanese Hezbollah alone justifies these conclusions. Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization until September 11. Highlights of Hezbollah’s record of terror attacks include suicide truck bombings targeting U.S. and French forces in Beirut (in 1983 and 1984) and U.S. forces again in Saudi Arabia (in 1996), its record of suicide bombing attacks targeting Jewish and Israeli interests such as those in Argentina (1992 and 1994) and in Thailand (attempted in 1994), and a host of other plots targeting American, French, German, British, Kuwaiti, Bahraini and other interests in plots from Europe to Southeast Asia to the Middle East.4

According to U.S. authorities, concern over the threat posed by Hezbollah is well placed. FBI officials testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in February 2002 that "FBI investigations to date continue to indicate that many Hezbollah subjects based in the United States have the capability to attempt terrorist attacks here should this be a desired objective of the group."5 Similarly, CIA Director George Tenet testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2003 that "Hezbollah, as an organization with capability and worldwide presence, is [al-Qaeda's] equal, if not a far more capable organization."6 That capability is a direct result of Hezbollah’s intimate ties to -- and training at the hands of – Iranian security and intelligence services.

Iran’s terrorist activities can be split into several primary categories. First, Iran actively seeks to undermine prospects for Israeli-Arab peace. Second, Iran sponsors terrorist groups of global reach, including funding, training, arming and proving safe haven to their members. Third, Iranian intelligence operatives are themselves engaged in terrorist activity on their own and in cooperation with terrorist groups, including surveillance of U.S. interests at home and abroad. This includes efforts to destabilize regimes not to Tehran’s liking, particularly in the Middle East, as evidenced most recently by Iranian activity in Iraq.

Funding:

In the wake of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Hezbollah reportedly received an additional $22 million from Iranian intelligence to support Palestinian terrorist groups and foment instability.22 Similarly, in the wake of 2004 Saudi crackdown on al-Qaeda terror financing emanating from within the Kingdom, funding for Hamas from within Saudi Arabia all but dried up since many of the radical jihadist financiers funding al-Qaeda supported Hamas as well. Following the loss of these funds, Hamas is believed to have accepted an emergency budgetary supplement from Iran to tide the organization over until alternative means could be found to transfer funds from the Kingdom to Hamas. This financial support was likely forthcoming due to Hamas’s successful militarization of the Intifada that followed the failure of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 2000.

SMUGGLING WEAPONS.

Iran also ships and smuggles weapons to a variety of terrorist groups. Iranian cargo planes deliver sophisticated weaponry, from rockets to small arms, to Hezbollah in regular flights to Damascus from Tehran. These weapons are offloaded in Syria and trucked to Hezbollah camps in Lebanon’s Beka’a Valley. In January 2004, Iran reportedly took advantage of the international humanitarian aid effort to assist earthquake victims in Iran to supply weapons to Hezbollah. Cargo planes reportedly flew to Iran from Syria filled with aid supplies, and returned full of weapons for Hezbollah.41

Iranian involvement in the Karine-A weapons smuggling ship – intercepted by the Isareli Navy in the Red Sea in January 2002 – is well documented. The White House described evidence of Iran’s role in the Karine-A incident as “compelling,” a conclusion echoed in the statements of Director of Central Intelligence Tenet, senior State Department officials, and even European officials. Speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg in February 2002, European Union head of foreign affairs Javier Solana described the Karine-A as “the link between Iran and the PA,” adding that “such a connection had not existed for many years.”42 Hezbollah’s role in the affair is also well known. Not only did Iran arrange for Hezbollah external operations commander Imad Mughniyeh to purchase the Karine-A, but Mughniyeh’s deputy, Haj Bassem, personally commanded the ship that met the Karine-A at the island of Kish (south of Iran) and oversaw the ship-to-ship transfer of the Iranian weapons.43 But the link extends to Hamas as well.

A Bit More on Radicalization:

Al-Manar is the official television mouthpiece of Hezbollah, and is used by Hezbollah and Iran to radicalize Muslim youth and glorify violence, especially in the contexts of Israel and Iraq. Called the “station of resistance” – it serves as Hezbollah’s tool to reach the entire Arab Muslim world to disseminate propaganda and promote terrorist activity. Al-Manar glorifies suicide bombings, calls for attacks targeting Israel, coalition forces in Iraq, and the United States, and seeks to create a radicalized constituency that is as likely to seek out terrorist groups themselves to join their ranks as they are to be sought after and recruited by these groups.

At the time of al-Manar’s founding in 1991, the station reportedly received seed money from Iran and had a running budget of $1 million.99 By 2002 its annual budget had grown to approximately $15 million.100 Middle East analysts and journalists maintain that most of this funding comes from Iran.101 Avi Jorisch, author of Beacon of Hatred:

Inside Hezbollah’s al-Manar Television, writes that “Iran provides an estimated $100-200 million per year to Hezbollah, which in turn transfers money to al-Manar, making Iranian funding of the station indirect.”102 This was confirmed by former al-Manar program director Sheikh Nasir al-Akhdar who asserted that al-Manar receives a large portion of its budget through subsidies offered by Hezbollah.103

According to one official in al-Manar's Art Graphic Department, al-Manar's music videos are meant to "help people on the way to committing what you call in the West a suicide mission. [They are] meant to be the first step in the process of a freedom fighter operation." The United States has been a primary target of al-Manar programming and is depicted as a global oppressor. In a speech broadcast on al-Manar, Hezbollah Secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah stated, "Our enmity to the Great Satan is complete and unlimited. . . . Our echoing slogan will remain: Death to America!" One video features an altered image of the Statue of Liberty. The statue's head has been transformed into a skull with hollow eyes, her gown dripping in blood. Instead of a torch, she holds a sharp knife. After asserting that the United States "has pried into the affairs of most countries in the world," the video ends with the slogan, "America owes blood to all of humanity."

Al-Manar often juxtaposes sacred Islamic text with images of "martyrdom" to incite its viewers to support and even carry out acts of terror. In one video, Qur'anic verses are sung in somber, quiet tones and scrolled across the screen while footage in the background shows U.S. and Israeli flags being burned, demonstrators waving a "Down with U.S.A." sign, a suicide bomber recording his valediction, victims and rescue personnel scrambling in the aftermath of a suicide bombing, and similar images. Indeed, al-Manar takes its case for suicide operations straight to the people. Viewers are told that "the path to becoming a priest in Islam is through jihad." Potential bombers are implored to focus their attention on the afterlife and on judgment day "instead of getting preoccupied with our lives here on earth." Mothers are encouraged to give up their sons for God, country, and the blessings of the afterlife, to prepare them "for battle knowing that their blood will mix with the soil." In the eyes of Hezbollah, "this belief in judgment day is the most powerful weapon in the face of technology and advanced weaponry." Such belief "drives fear into the heart of the Israeli soldier as he sits in his tank, while God guides [Hezbollah's] bullets and rockets to their targets."[/quote]

I would encourage everyone to read the whole thing, takes about 25 minutes, max.