Source: USCENTCOM sponsored web site, Al-Shorfa.com
Lebanese militia Hizbullah has been employing Iranian-made drones along the border with Syria, according to recent media reports.
On March 6th, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Watan reported that Hizbullah had established a small airport in the Lebanese city of Baalbek near the Syrian border and was operating Iranian-made drones.
In an earlier account, Lebanese daily Al-Joumhouria reported November 24th, 2013, that Hizbullah was using unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the Syrian border.
“For sure Hizbullah has such aerial vehicles, and receiving such supplies as well as other weapons is proof of Iran’s continuous support,” Lebanese political analyst Ali al-Amine told Al-Shorfa.
“Hizbullah reflects Iran’s need to reinforce its power in order to defend its interests in Syria and the region as a whole, while it transgresses all international conventions and treaties,” he said.
The Lebanese militia receives constant support from Iran, whose Revolutionary Guard oversees its infrastructure, al-Amine said.
Hizbullah’s “involvement in Syria is due to a clear and explicit Iranian decision, for it could have remained on the Lebanese border without getting involved but instead it responded to Iran’s strategic demands”, he said.
Iran seeks to play a key role in Syria and aspires to influence Lebanon’s national security and foreign policy, he added, noting that Hizbullah plays a primary role in helping it achieve these goals, even if that means gambling with Lebanon.
IRAN ‘TESTING WEAPONRY ON SYRIAN BATTLEGROUNDS’
Iran and Hizbullah have used drones in Syria over Damascus, Homs and Aleppo as well as over Arsal, al-Qaseer and Yabrud along the northern Lebanese border, said Al-Joumhouria writer George Shahin.
This explains Hizbullah’s establishment of “a special airport for these drones in Baalbek” since the start of the group’s involvement in the Syrian conflict, he said.
Syrian battlegrounds are “the best laboratory for Iranian ground weaponry, technology and drones which are used by Hizbullah”, he said, noting that Iran’s interference in Syria and its increasing support of Hizbullah through arms and supplies evidences its geopolitical interests.
“Iran has a basic conviction that its role in Syria is vital, for it has given $8 billion in grants to the Syrian regime, is testing all advanced weaponry on Syrian battlegrounds and is providing experts and training” to Syrian troops, Shahin said.
Additionally, he said, the number of Hizbullah fighters in Syria has risen amidst security and sectarian tensions in Lebanon, especially in the Arsal border region, due to the unfolding battles in Qalamoun and Yabrud.
Estimates indicate between 4,000 and 12,000 Hizbullah fighters are battling in Syria, he said.
“Hizbullah fighters crossed the border into Syria as civilians in large numbers using the official border entrances and pretending they were Syrians,” Shahin said. “They then received weapons and supplies in Syria.”
HIZBULLAH’S INCREASING INVOLVEMENT IN SYRIA
Hizbullah’s involvement in Syria appears to have extended further than the group had originally planned at the start of its intervention in the Homs countryside, said strategy analyst Brig. Gen. Nizar Abdel-Kader, who is retired from the Lebanese army.
“After Hizbullah waged the al-Qaseer battle on a small scale, it decided to interfere in Damascus under the pretext it was defending holy Shia places and the shrine of Sayyeda Zainab,” he told Al-Shorfa. “The missions it then started to undertake, supported by Iran, have expanded to include several operations.”
Iran and Hizbullah have provided counsel and training to pro-regime militias, Abdel-Kader said, and now “Hizbullah finds itself facing a new requirement, which is to defend its supply lines as well as its locations and rear positions”.
This expansion, along with the spread of the fighting in Qalamoun to an area near the Lebanese border with Syria, has prompted Hizbullah to increase its numbers in Syria, he said.
Iranian advisors and officers also help Hizbullah operationally and supply it with a steady stream of weapons, he said.
Iran has been making investments in Syria since 1979 and has supported the regime politically, economically and militarily with billions of dollars,” Abdel-Kader said. “Iran also has invested heavily in Hizbullah for a long time and the figure has reached $25 billion.”
“The Syrian regime is considered a strategic depth for Iran and Hizbullah, and if the equation is changed then both sides lose their strategic edge,” which translates into the Syrian regime “allowing them to bring weapons into Syria and store a portion of them there, as well as send arms shipments to Lebanon,” he added.
“For this reason, Iran and Hizbullah are fighting together to keep the Syrian regime alive,” Abdel-Kader said, adding that he doubts this plot would succeed because “Iran is footing the bill for logistical support as well as funnelling funds, which is quite costly.”
