[IMRA: Retreat supporters pointed to the "successful" retreat from Lebanon
to defend retreat from Gaza.]

Iran's spies watching us, says Israel
By Con Coughlin Defence and Security Editor, on Israel's northern border
Daily Telegraph (UK) 4 April 2006
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/04/wiran04.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/04/ixworld.html

Iran has set up a sophisticated intelligence gathering operation in southern
Lebanon to identify targets in northern Israel in the event of a military
confrontation over its controversial nuclear programme.

Senior Israeli military commanders say Iran has spent tens of millions of
pounds helping its close ally, Hizbollah, the Shia Muslim militant group
that controls southern Lebanon, to set up a network of control towers and
monitoring stations along the entire length of Israel's border with south
Lebanon.

Some of the new control towers, which are made of reinforced concrete and
fitted with bullet-proof reflective glass, are less than 100 yards from
Israeli army positions and are clearly visible for long stretches along
Israel's border.

"This is now Iran's front line with Israel," a senior Israeli military
commander said. "The Iranians are using Hizbollah to spy on us so that they
can collect information for future attacks. And there is very little we can
do about it."

The Israeli military has reported a significant increase in Hizbollah
activity in southern Lebanon since Syria came under intense international
pressure to withdraw its forces from the area last year following the
assassination of the Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Israeli military officers report that teams of Iran's Revolutionary Guards
travel regularly to southern Lebanon to help train local Hizbollah fighters
in terrorist tactics. Tensions between Iran and Israel have intensified
dramatically since the election last summer of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
as Iran's new leader. Israel has repeatedly threatened to take military
action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and the new Iranian
government has responded by calling for Israel's destruction.

Senior Israeli military officers believe Iran is deliberately exploiting the
power vacuum caused by Syria's withdrawal to intensify pressure on Israel's
northern border.

Hizbollah is aware that Israel is keen to maintain friendly relations with
the new government in Lebanon and believes it can act freely in southern
Lebanon without provoking retaliatory strikes from Israel.

Officers report a sharp increase in border incidents between Hizbollah
fighters and Israeli units on the northern border, with the main flash
points located at the disputed Druze village of Ghajar, which is divided by
the border between Israel and Lebanon, and Mount Dov, which Hizbollah also
claims should be part of Lebanon.

The situation is now regarded as so serious that many senior Israeli
officers openly admit to missing the restraining influence of Syria over
Hizbollah.

"When the Syrians were in Lebanon it was easy for us to control Hizbollah,"
said an officer with Israel's northern command. "If things got too tense we
could put pressure on Damascus and the Syrians would act quickly to calm
things down."

Although the Lebanese government technically controls the border area, its
military is not considered strong enough to control Hizbollah, which takes
its orders directly from Teheran.

"Iran is playing a very dangerous game of cat and mouse on our northern
border and it could easily spiral out of control at any moment," said the
officer.

In recent weeks Hizbollah sent unmanned aircraft on reconnaissance missions
over the border to photograph sensitive Israeli military installations. The
spy planes returned to base before being detected by air defence systems.

In addition to providing intelligence-gathering and communications
equipment, Iran has also equipped Hizbollah with improved weapons and
ammunition to launch attacks against Israel, including heavy mortars and
rockets with a range of up to 30 miles.