Iran's Reaction to Hezbollah Being Labeled as Terrorists: They Have Targeted Lebanon's Security

In response to the Gulf Cooperation Council's action, Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, stated that "those who label Hezbollah as terrorists have intentionally or unintentionally targeted the unity and security of Lebanon." According to a report on Thursday, March 4, by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Amirabdollahian reacted to the labeling of Hezbollah by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as a terrorist organization, saying that this act, "while ignoring the crimes of the Zionist regime, is a new mistake that is not in favor of regional stability and security." On Wednesday, March 3, the six Gulf countries designated Hezbollah, which is directly supported by the Islamic Republic, as a "terrorist" organization. Abdulatif al-Zayani, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, also stated that Hezbollah is a "threat" to the security of Arab countries. However, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister said, "We take pride in Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is at the forefront of the resistance against the Zionist regime and a pioneer in the fight against terrorism in the region." Press TV, the English-language satellite network of the Islamic Republic, also reported, citing the Syrian government, that Damascus considers the labeling of Hezbollah as terrorists to be in line with the "Zionist regime." Hezbollah militants, alongside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have been fighting for years alongside the Syrian army against armed opponents of Bashar al-Assad. Dozens of Hezbollah militants have been killed and injured during this time. Besides the Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the United States, Canada, France, Australia, the Netherlands, and Israel also consider Hezbollah a terrorist group. The European Union, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand have also listed Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization. Hezbollah is a paramilitary organization that was established in the 1980s with direct financial and military support from the Islamic Republic among Lebanese Shiites. Iran's financial and military support for Hezbollah continues. In this context, Saudi Arabia has sanctioned four companies and three Lebanese individuals for their alleged connections to Hezbollah. Netanyahu accused Iran of forming a "terrorist front" in the Golan. A U.S. congressional committee accused Iran, Assad, and Russia of "war crimes."