[국제부장의 D브리핑]
Why the Hezbollah-Israel Conflict
Iran “Responds to Israel” After Western Call… I-Hezbollah, Armed Clash Evoking All-Out War
Iran, after the revolution, confronts pro-American forces such as Lee… strategically uses support for armed groups in neighboring countries
《Middle East Crisis, Why the I-Hezbollah Clash?
As Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah exchanged large-scale attacks on the 25th (local time), concerns are growing that the Middle East situation could be engulfed in turmoil. On that day, Israel mobilized about 100 fighter jets to launch a preemptive strike on Hezbollah strongholds, and Hezbollah responded by launching about 320 drones and rockets. The British Financial Times analyzed that it was the largest-scale conflict since the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Although it did not escalate into an all-out war, the prevailing view is that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah will inevitably continue. There are also indications that if Iran intervenes, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah could spread throughout the Middle East.
The most frequent conflict in the Middle East, the ‘powder keg of the world’, is the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. And when there is a large-scale conflict between the two, attention is focused on Iran.
The same thing happened on the 25th (local time) when Israel mobilized about 100 fighter jets to preemptively attack Hezbollah’s main strongholds, and Hezbollah retaliated with about 320 drones and rockets. Coincidentally, this clash occurred after Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported on the 23rd that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had recently said in a telephone conversation with his French, British, and other foreign ministers that “Iran has the right to respond to Israeli terrorism.” Iran has been emphasizing its intention to retaliate for the killing of Ismail Haniya, the top leader of the political bureau of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Iran on the 31st of last month in an Israeli attack.
It has not been confirmed whether Iran intervened in the recent clash between Israel and Hezbollah. However, some analysts say that “Iran may have tried to attack Israel using Hezbollah,” based on the Israeli military’s announcement that Hezbollah was preparing a large-scale attack and thus carried out a preemptive strike. And once again, attention is focused on the special relationship between Iran and Hezbollah.
● Iran and Hezbollah are virtually ‘one body’
Hezbollah, which means ‘Party of God’ in Arabic, was founded in 1982 to fight an armed struggle during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. Hezbollah and Iran are inseparable. They share the same sect (Shiite Islam) and ideology (anti-American, anti-Israel), and Iran provided various military and financial support when Hezbollah was founded. Senior Hezbollah leaders have also pledged allegiance to Iran’s Supreme Leader (a Shiite cleric). In Lebanon and the Middle East, Hezbollah is known as ‘Little Iran’ and ‘Iran’s agent.’
According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah’s regular army consists of about 20,000 to 25,000 soldiers, and tens of thousands can be mobilized as reserves. It is known to possess more than 200,000 rocket launchers and missiles, some of which are equipped with precision guidance functions. It also has extensive combat experience, having participated in the Iraqi and Syrian civil wars with Iran’s elite military organization, the Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is also evaluated as the most well-armed non-state military organization.
Iran has been using Hezbollah to consistently pressure its main enemy, Israel, which is located about 2,000 km away from its home country. Jang Ji-hyang, director of the Middle East Center at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said, “Hezbollah and Iran are one in the same,” and “If Iran does not reconcile with Israel, reconciliation between Hezbollah and Israel is impossible.”
● Iran uses armed groups as a key security strategy
Iran supports several armed groups in addition to Hezbollah. Hamas, the Palestinian armed group in the Gaza Strip that launched a large-scale surprise attack on Israel last October, and the Houthi rebels (Houthis), who are in a civil war with the government forces in Yemen and have also attacked Israel, are also supported by Iran. The difference is that Houthis are Shiite and Hamas is Sunni.
The reason Iran supports Hamas, which is a different sect, is because Hamas is an armed group that is just as suitable for harassing Israel as Hezbollah. Although Hamas is Sunni, it is useful for attacking Israel, so it actively supports it. This is why Israel claimed after the outbreak of the Gaza War that “Iran is the real mastermind behind it.”
Iran, which overthrew the monarchy and established a theocratic republic in 1978 through the Islamic Revolution, has put forward anti-Americanism, anti-monarchy, and anti-Semitism as its main national ideologies. Naturally, it could not avoid conflict with the West, pro-American countries, Israel with a Jewish majority, and Sunni monarchies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In order to overcome its security isolation, Iran has adopted a strategy of utilizing armed groups in neighboring countries with unstable political situations and large Shiite populations, such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. In simple terms, it has carried out military operations when necessary by utilizing pro-Iran armed groups. This is also why many Middle Eastern countries regard Iran’s support for armed groups as a serious security threat, just as they do the possibility of developing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
● Saudi Arabia, Israel close in to block pro-Iran militant group threat
One of the biggest reasons Israel, which has been hostile to the Arab world for decades since it established a country in the area where Arab Palestinians live, has recently been able to improve relations with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, etc. is said to be ‘containment of Iran’. Both the Arab world and Israel consider Iran a major security threat. And one of the key issues in the process of containing Iran is to suppress Iran’s strategy of using armed groups.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel have also been raising their voices to the US, which is also hostile to Iran, to curb Iran’s strategy of utilizing armed groups. Sung Il-kwang, a professor at Korea University’s Middle East and Islamic Center, said, “Whether it is the Republican or Democratic Party, if a new administration is launched in the US next year, the Middle East policy will also be reorganized to some extent,” and “one of the issues that Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel will be most interested in during this process will be ‘curbing Iran’s strategy of utilizing armed groups. ’”
2024-08-28 04:21:29