{"id":44573,"date":"2021-01-31T02:25:23","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T02:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=44573"},"modified":"2021-01-31T02:25:23","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T02:25:23","slug":"lebanon-pm-threatens-mass-arrests-over-deadly-clashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=44573","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon PM threatens mass arrests over deadly clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nRIYADH: One seldom discussed byproduct of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolution, which ended with the fall of the Shah and the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, is the diplomatic, economic and strategic collusion between Tehran and several Latin American regimes \u2014 right in Washington\u2019s own backyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nTehran has worked hard to consolidate these friendships since the revolution, in particular its entente with fellow oil producer Venezuela during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad between 2005 and 2013.<\/p>\n

\nThe Iranian regime has simultaneously intensified its efforts to disrupt the international power dynamic in the Middle East and wider region in its favor through an array of secretive military interventions and its illicit nuclear program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nTo curb these aspirations and malign activity across the region, the US has reimposed a raft of sanctions on Iran\u2019s economy, leaving the regime isolated and financially crippled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\nVenezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro (L) shaking hands with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani (R) before a bilateral meeting at The Convention Centre in Baku on October 25, 2019. (AFP\/Miraflores Palace Presidential Office\/Jhonn Zerpa\/File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\nFrom this position of weakness, Tehran has looked to its friends in Caracas \u2014 another international pariah \u2014 in search of dependable allies.<\/p>\n

\nTehran\u2019s relationship with Latin America dates back to 1960, when Venezuela was among the founding members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). From here, Iran\u2019s diplomatic ties quickly branched out to include Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Cuba.<\/p>\n

\nBut it was not until 2005, early in Ahmadinejad\u2019s presidency, that the company Tehran was keeping in Latin America came under scrutiny. Several of these budding friendships appeared to be based on a mutual dislike for the US and its policies.<\/p>\n

\nAfter the First World War, waves of refugees began to arrive in Venezuela from the Middle East. The trend gained more traction after the Second World War and reached a peak after the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975.<\/p>\n

\nIran and its Lebanese proxy militia Hezbollah exploited this trend, using religious and intellectual infiltration to convert Christians and Sunni Muslims to Shiite Islam and Khomeinist teachings on the Wilayat Al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist).<\/p>\n

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\nIranian revolutionary guards secure the area during the inauguration ceremony of a joint petrochemical plant in the Asaluyeh industrial zone – where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez sealed their anti-American alliance in 2007. (AFP\/File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\nKeen to expand its ideological presence and confront what it viewed as Western hegemony, Iran launched a Spanish-language satellite news channel in 2011 called HispanTV, broadcasting a variety of cultural, political and religious programs targeting people across the continent.<\/p>\n

\nIran has established more than 36 Shiite cultural centers in 17 countries around the world, many of which are allegedly being used as spy rings to gather intelligence. In Latin America they act as a hub for recruiting expatriates and building popular support for Iranian policies.<\/p>\n

\nAfter OPEC was established, political and economic relations between Iran and Venezuela were initially based on their shared oil production and price-related challenges. This relationship later flourished and expanded to include several Latin American countries through common membership of the Non-Aligned Movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nFounded in 1961, the forum of 120 states, who do not consider themselves formally aligned with any major power bloc, claims to remain neutral and independent in world affairs.<\/p>\n

\nChallenging the will of the international community, Venezuela has long hinted it will defy sanctions and supply Iran with petroleum products in an attempt to weaken US efforts to exploit Tehran\u2019s dependence on foreign\u00a0refined oil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\nNicolas Maduro, Venezuela\u2019s socialist president, has maintained this stance since taking the helm following the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013.<\/p>\n

\nItself under a strict US embargo, Venezuela is grappling with its own economic crisis, causing unprecedented inflation and shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Despite possessing the world\u2019s largest proven oil reserve, the nation\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) has nosedived and its currency has collapsed.<\/p>\n

\nIn December, Iran reportedly sent tankers loaded with gasoline and petroleum components to Venezuela in defiance of international sanctions. After the US imposed its latest round of sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, Iran also supplied Caracas with tools, supplies and technical expertise to support Petroleos de Venezuela, SA \u2014 the state-run oil and gas company.<\/p>\n

\nThrough its warm relations with Latin American governments, Iran hopes to project the image of a global power, overcome its political and economic isolation, garner diplomatic support for its nuclear program and respond to the US from close proximity.<\/p>\n

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\nVenezuela\u2019s former president Chavez strengthened his country\u2019s ties with Iran during his time in office. In 2003, he appointed Syrian-Venezuelan Tareck El-Aissami to lead the Administrative Service of Identification, Migration and Foreigners (formerly known as ONIDEX), who is alleged to have used his powers to assist Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\nDuring a year-long joint investigation, CNN and CNN en Espanol exposed major anomalies in the issuance of Venezuelan passports and visas, including allegations that documents were issued to individuals with extremist ties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nAccording to intelligence reports, El-Aissami was involved in the issuing of 173 Venezuelan passports and IDs to individuals from the Middle East, including people affiliated with Hezbollah.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nVenezuelan opposition groups also accuse El-Aissami of drug smuggling. He is listed by the US Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control as one of the 10 most-wanted drug traffickers.<\/p>\n

\nSince April last year, he has been working in Venezuela\u2019s Ministry of Petroleum.<\/p>\n

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\nIranian President Mohammad Khatami (L) and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez review the honor guard during a welcoming ceremony in Tehran 20 May 2001. (AFP\/File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\nIn June 2008, the US Treasury named naturalized Venezuelans Ghazi Nasreddin and Faouzi Kanaan as supporters of terrorism. Nasreddin worked as charge d\u2019affaires at the Venezuelan embassy in Syria and also held a position at the nation\u2019s embassy in Lebanon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nAccording to the Treasury, Kanaan owned a travel agency, organized trips and raised money in Venezuela for Hezbollah members. It also says Kanaan met senior Hezbollah officials to discuss kidnappings and potential terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

\nAccording to a US State Department report on terrorism in 2019, Venezuela operates a lenient framework for armed groups, including FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels, the Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN), and members of Hezbollah.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nThe report says financial ties with FARC and ELN rebels have helped enable repression and graft schemes carried out by the Maduro administration.<\/p>\n

\nHezbollah has established close ties with drug-smuggling rings and has developed a sophisticated money-laundering scheme. An article published by Politico in 2017 revealed Hezbollah has made $1 billion annually from drug- and weapon-smuggling, money-laundering and other criminal activities.<\/p>\n

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\nA handout picture released by the official website of the Centre for Preserving and Publishing the Works of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shows him (R) meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the capital Tehran on January 10, 2015. (AFP\/Khamenei.ir\/File Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\nIranian involvement in drug smuggling in Venezuela is well documented. Detailed reports from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reveal an extensive cocaine trade route from eastern Venezuela to western Africa and on to Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nIt is suspected that\u00a0the pipeline\u2019s supply comes from Iranian facilities located in Venezuela\u2019s Orinoco River delta, where vessels are loaded with cocaine. Some shipments end up in West Africa, Europe and the Middle East. The proceeds are laundered by various means, including the purchase of used American-made cars for export to Africa.<\/p>\n

\nLaunderers allegedly used their relationship with governments, particularly those in the Bolivarian countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Venezuela), to move their dirty money through Latin American banks, making it available to Western markets.<\/p>\n

\nIran has gained considerable influence in Latin America and has consolidated its network of allies. The regime in Tehran is actively expanding this list of friends in the hope of counterbalancing the international community\u2019s stance against its nuclear weapons program and to mobilize support for its policies.<\/p>\n

\nIn addition to its nuclear ambitions, Tehran\u2019s politico-economic relationship with Venezuela and other Latin American nations is primarily a means of diversifying its means of survival and overcoming international sanctions.\u00a0There is little doubt, however, that much of this illicit arrangement is handled and overseen by Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\n—————–<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\nTwitter:\u00a0@drhamsher7<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RIYADH: One seldom discussed byproduct of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolution, which ended with the fall of the Shah and the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, is the diplomatic, economic and strategic collusion between Tehran and several Latin American regimes \u2014 right in Washington\u2019s own backyard.\u00a0 Tehran has worked hard to consolidate these friendships since…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}