Strengthening cooperation between Iran and Hezbollah: Implications of meeting between Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah in Lebanon

Nora Bandari

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on September 1, coming from Syria, during which he held discussions with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which dealt with the latest developments in the situation in Lebanon and the region, especially as they coincided with Israel continuously threatening to launch a military operation if Hezbollah does not stop threatening the Israeli forces in the border area with Lebanon and given that Tehran considers Hezbollah its main arm in Lebanese territory, which this meeting confirmed.

Iranian motives

It is also remarkable that the Iranian regime is currently trying to intervene to resolve the “presidential vacancy” crisis that Lebanon has been witnessing since last October following the end of President Michel Aoun’s term, which was confirmed by Amir-Abdollahian upon his arrival in Beirut, saying, “We will discuss with the various parties in Lebanon reaching understandings that lead to the election of a new president for the Lebanese Republic.” This indicates that the mullah regime is keen on having a president in Lebanon who serves the Iranian agenda and interests on Lebanese soil, which comes within the framework of the plan to “export the revolution” and Tehran’s efforts to control a number of countries in the region, most notably Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, and also Iraq, through its arms spread in these countries.

On the one hand, the meeting between Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah may be aimed at strengthening cooperation between Iran and Hezbollah to find a president who is compatible with the various Lebanese political forces and at the same time serves Iran, in addition to strengthening military cooperation between the Lebanese militia and Tehran in order to repel Israeli attacks in the region, as Iran does not hesitate to provide various types of weapons to Hezbollah, which explains why the latter recently displayed its military arsenal as a pressure card to deliver a message to Israel that the militia is capable of confronting the Israeli forces in the south of the country. At the same time, the mullah regime wants to tell Israel that it will not give up supporting its proxies in the region by various means, which was confirmed by Amir-Abdollahian saying, “Tehran continues to support Lebanon, its army, people, and resistance… Lebanon has an important position, and cooperation with it is in the interest of both countries.”

In addition to the foregoing, Iran is seeking to strengthen cooperation in the economic field with Lebanon, as Amir-Abdollahian announced that Iranian companies are ready to solve Lebanon’s electricity problem, which reveals an Iranian desire to continue the incursion into Lebanese territory with various tools that allow it and its arms to influence and control decision-making institutions.

Mullahs’ approach

Regarding the implications of the meeting that brought together Amir-Abdollahian and Nasrallah, Dr. Masoud Ibrahim Hassan, a researcher specializing in Iranian affairs, said that the meeting confirms that Iranian policies with regard to its affiliated militia in the region were not affected by any of the recent treaties concluded by Iran to restore relations with Saudi Arabia or other countries of the region.

Hassan pointed out in a special statement to the Reference that the Iranian approach has not changed, and Tehran will not stop supporting this militia, even if it made some concessions during the past few months to open new horizons for it at the regional and international levels, which is what the Arab countries of the region should pay attention to and impose conditions on Iran, most notably abandoning support for its militias in the countries of the region, whether in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon or Yemen.