By: Zahra Akbari

You did everything you could, but Iran and Hezbollah became stronger

August 26, 2023 - 22:50

TEHRAN - On August 18, the Jewish News Syndicate published an article titled “To weaken Hezbollah, you have to weaken Iran”. The article, written by Ben Cohen, drew an illusionary roadmap to weaken Hezbollah and Iran.

Cohen, pointing to the internal and international status of the Zionist regime, believes that now may be a favorable time for Lebanon's Hezbollah to make movements in the northern borders of Israel again as the regime is involved in an unprecedented political crisis, Russia has invaded Ukraine and the Western countries, nervous over the use of destructive weapons in the Ukraine war, do not want to get involved in a new crisis.

Cohen, who writes a weekly column for JNS, also points to the speech of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, on the 17th anniversary of the 33-day war, in which he threatened Israel, saying, “If a conflict starts again, he will send the Israeli regime to the Stone Age, and if the war spreads to the axis of resistance, there will be no such thing as Israel.”

Referring to the activities of a non-governmental organization called Green Without Borders, Cohen welcomes the sanctions imposed on this group and believes that the group is on the side of Hezbollah and supports Hezbollah's activities to train Hezbollah. It (Green Without Borders) is used along the blue line in southern Lebanon and prevents the freedom of movement of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).  

According to Cohen, UNIFIL representatives have always denied any link between Green Without Borders and Hezbollah, and its spokesman Andrea Teneti recently confirmed in January that the NGO (Green Without Borders) did not take any action to violate Security Council Resolution 1701 (that ceased the war in 2006). However, according to Cohen, the Security Council should follow the U.S. model and impose sanctions on Green Without Borders.

The following article by Cohen can be considered as one of the nervous reactions by the regime’s supporters to the ongoing status in Israel. The threshold of tolerance of the Zionist regime’s supporters has been lowered to the extent that they do not even tolerate the activities of an environmental NGO. The Zionist regime and its supporters have always expected international institutions to be their foreign policy arm, and their high sensitivity towards a non-governmental organization active in environmental issues caused the supporters to persuade the United States to sanction the NGO.

Whether the Zionist regime accepts it or not, the international order is witnessing the emergence of new actors, including NGOs and other members of civil societies, and these new actors, contrary to the initial idea of Western countries, will not always act in favor of their interests.  

While the Western media outlets raise security and military accusations against the Green Without Borders, their countries have always had a dark history in the destructive use of such groups. For example, the White Helmets civil defense group has played an influential role both in security and media activities for the benefit of terrorist groups in Syria under the pretext of humanitarian actions. Besides, The White Helmets have always enjoyed Western countries' financial and media support. White Helmets 2017 Oscar Award for Best Documentary proves the United States' support for this group.

Finally, Cohen concludes that weakening Hezbollah entails weakening Iran as its main supporter, but the Biden administration's avoidance of confrontation with Iran and the uncertainty of the U.S. policy towards Iran are all signs of appeasement.

Iran considers the release of $6 billion of its frozen assets a sign of the weakness of the United States, Cohen argues. 

Cohen's main problem is the region's stability and reduced tension in West Asia. This is more destructive than any missile aimed at Israel, which is involved in severe internal problems and external crises. Israel clearly observes that after 75 years, it is still considered an abnormal actor in the region and does not see any hope for being an ordinary actor. Therefore, the writer's expectation from the U.S. to confront Iran directly is analyzed in this framework of Israel's hopelessness and its entanglement in its issues. However, the writer should remember that the U.S. and Iran have gone through several confrontations, and the result has been nothing but a more insecure region for Israel and a wider sphere of influence for Iran.

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