Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Iran's Crisis Posing A Problem For Its Mideast Allies

Lebanese Hizballah supporters listen to the movement's Hassan Nasrallah deliver a televised speech from an undisclosed location during a rally in Baalbek on May 29, 2009. AFP / Getty

From Time Magazine:

If the street protests roiling Iran since its disputed election have created a problem for the leadership in Tehran, imagine the dilemma it raises for Iran's allies elsewhere in the Middle East. Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah was quick out of the blocks to congratulate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when the authorities announced his re-election, calling the result a "great hope to all the mujahedin and resistance who are fighting against the forces of oppression and occupation." But since supporters of defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi have taken to the streets to decry the election as rigged, Nasrallah has become more circumspect. And he specifically refuted suggestions that either candidate might be more pro-Hizballah than the other, merely saying that "Iran is under the authority of the Wali Al Faqih [divinely-inspired clerical rule] and will pass through this crisis."

Read more ....

My Comment: I think they are more concerned about a cutoff in monies, as well as a disruption in military and general assistance. Both Hamas and Hezbollah, and to a lesser extent Syria, are heavily dependent on this assistance to maintain legitimacy to their respected populations. If they do not have the resources to provide to their supporters, they will just become another extremist religious sect that is dependent on foreign aid and goodwill for their survival.

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