This morning (Friday), the US sent a special letter to the European Union asking them to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. This request was made in light of the security tensions with Hezbollah on the Israeli northern border surrounding the dispute over the maritime border and the “Shark” rig. This is in response to a US Senate draft measure that broadens the scope of penalties against the Shia terrorist organization’s political wing and the civilian institutions that support it.
In contrast to the past, when sanctions were solely applied to the military part of the group, the bill put forth by Michigan Republican Peter Meyer seeks to expand the penalties to the political arm. In a letter to Congressmen sent at the same time, US President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of extending the state of emergency in Lebanon. Additionally, Biden made it clear that Lebanon’s sovereignty is threatened by the flow of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.
The American president referred to the Islamic Republic’s arms shipments as “an exceptional threat against the national security and foreign policy of the United States” at the same time. The transfer of sophisticated drones from Iran to the terrorist groups operating under it in Lebanon and Yemen, according to Michael McCall, chairman of the American House of Representatives’ Foreign Relations Committee, damages American national security and destabilizes the Middle East. He continued, “Stopping the Iranian drones will stop Their hazardous spread.
aircraft from Hezbollah intercepted as they approached the Shark rig (photo: IDF spokesman)
Israel received a threatening message from Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah earlier this week. The Lebanese-Shiite terrorist group’s secretary general claimed in an interview with the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen network that “Not just Shark, but all of Israel’s gas resources, are under danger due to our rockets. Even if the address is Greek, the ship that will produce gas from Shark is Israeli. We’ll get into issues if Israel produces gas from the Harish rig in September and Lebanon doesn’t get its due.”
Nasrallah added that “Unmanned aircraft that we have can elude the adversary. In recent years, a handful of airplanes have flown into the Galilee and then left without being shot down. We forced Israel to fire at the drones from the air and the sea, but they failed to hit a drone that fell into the water. We have enough defensive and offensive naval capabilities to deter threats and accomplish our objectives.”