Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_e013.htm
August 10, 2009

Two rare statements about Iran-Hezbollah relations: Ali Akbar
Velayati, advisor to the Supreme Leader Khamenei, admits Iran fully supports
Hezbollah. Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary general, says
Hezbollah derives legitimacy for its activities from Khamenei.

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Overview

1. Recently two statements were made, one by a top Iranian
official and the other by a senior Hezbollah figure, about with
Iran-Hezbollah relations: Ali Akbar Velayati , advisor to the Supreme Leader
Khamenei on international affairs, again stated that Iran provided Hezbollah
and Hamas with full, comprehensive support,1 and that Hezbollah was indebted
to the Iranian leadership. Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary
general, admitted that the Supreme Leader Khamenei was a source of
legitimacy for the organization, which received Islamic directives from him
on every matter of principle, including attacks against Israel .

Interview with Ali Akbar Velayati

2. In a rare admission, on July 25 Ali Akbar Velayati , advisor
to the Supreme Leader Khamenei, told Al-Jazeera TV that Iran gave Hezbollah
and Hamas full, comprehensive support, and that without it they would not
have "won" the second Lebanon war and Operation Cast Lead. He said that ""we
fully supported Hezbollah and took responsibility for Hamas during the
[Israeli] attack [Operation Cast Lead] on the Gaza Strip. I can tell you
with complete sincerity that Iran fully and comprehensively supported
Hezbollah, and Hezbollah feels indebted to the [Iranian] leadership. Of
course, the leadership of Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah is extraordinary. He
always said that without Iranian support they would not have won [the second
Lebanon war]. Some of the resistance of the Palestinian people in the Gaza
Strip is [possible] thanks to Iranian aid and support . The resistance in
Bosnia was also supported by Iran and all that happened under the leadership
of the Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran under the supreme leader, with his
determined stance, stands shoulder to shoulder with all those factions of
the resistance which support the Palestinians."

3. Ali Akbar Velayati clearly reflected Iran 's interest
in providing support, including military support, for Hezbollah and Hamas as
a result of the great importance it gives to both terrorist organizations.
Iran regards Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as two
important local points of power which can be used to further its strategic
goals, central to which is its desire for regional hegemony in the Middle
East . Iran can use Hezbollah and Hamas to threaten population centers in
northern and southern Israel, increase its influence in the Arab-Muslim
world, damage the Israeli-Palestinian Authority peace process and subvert
the pro-Western Sunni states, especially Egypt (which exposed a subversive
Hezbollah network and considers the Hamas control of the Gaza Strip as
threat to its own security and that of the entire region). It is possible
that Ali Akbar Velayati's rare statement was meant to send a message of
power to Israel , in view of the current tension between Israel and
Hezbollah manifested in the media battle between the two during the past few
weeks.

Interview with Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary
general

4. On July 30 Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy secretary
general, was interviewed by the Lebanese daily Nahar al-Shabab . He was
asked about the relations between the Iranian leadership and Hezbollah, and
answered that Hezbollah was a Shi'ite "political-religious party" which had
to receive political and religious [Muslim] legitimacy from the [Iranian]
leadership. He added that as a party, Hezbollah regarded the Imam Khomeini
as a "guardian jurist" and a leader providing the organization with
legitimacy. He added that after Khomeini, the Imam Khamenei , was the one
who " decides general guidelines for us, which free us from blame and give
us legitimacy ."

5. He gave examples of the importance of the religious Islamic
instructions Hezbollah had to accept from Khamenei. For example, if Khamenei
tells Hezbollah that fighting Israel is a religious duty, and "whoever is
killed fighting Israel is considered a shaheed [a martyr for the sake of
Allah], as far as we understand." However, should Khamenei decide a war was
forbidden, then "the dead person would go to hell because he was forbidden
to participate in that war." Therefore, he said that Hezbollah would not
wage war on Israel without religious authorization from the "guardian
jurist" of Iran, who was a clerical authority,2 but as a guardian jurist he
was not supposed to enter into the details regarding how the decision was
carried out (timing, necessary weapons, etc.), which was in the hands of
Hezbollah.

6. Sheikh Naim Qassem has made similar remarks in the past . On
April 16, 2007, he admitted in an interview with the Iranian Arabic TV
station Al-Kawthar that Hezbollah did not determine its own policies . He
said the organization was subordinate to the authority of the Iranian
leadership and received Muslim religious guidance from it regarding every
facet of the fight against Israel (giving as examples rocket fire or suicide
bombing attacks, which required Muslim religious authorization from the
Iranian leadership). Referring to what Hezbollah regarded as it source of
authority, he frequently used the term vali-ye faqih (guardian jurist) when
speaking about Khomeini and his heir, Khamenei.

7. The significance of Sheikh Naim Qassem's remarks is his
admission that Hezbollah receives its political instructions from Iran,
despite the fact that Hezbollah is not only a terrorist organization but
also a Lebanese political party represented in the Lebanese Parliament which
is actively pursuing to the right to veto any decision made by the Lebanese
government. He again made it plain that Hezbollah needed the authorization
of the Iranian leadership to carry out any matter of principle, including
waging war, firing rockets and suicide bombing attacks. He claimed that the
Iranian leadership did not enter into details regarding how its instructions
were carried out, but in our assessment, there is no doubt that the Iranians
have both the ability and tools to keep the heat turned up, should Iran
decide to do so, on Israel's northern border.

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1 "Full, comprehensive support" is a way of saying that Iran
also provides Hezbollah with military support without specifically admitting
it.

2 Vali-ye faqih , the guardian jurist, was the title given to
the Ayatollah Khomeini and was passed along to his heir, the Supreme Leader
Khamenei.