Hezbollah's Threat to US National Security Grows

From the IPT Website

Most analyses of Hezbollah focus on the terrorist group's intervention in Syria or its threat to Israel. But the Iranian-backed organization maintains a significant presence in and near the U.S., threatening national security. Current American proposals to strengthen borders and immigration measures may be limited to address this important, yet poorly understood, threat.

A recent Al-Arabiya article examines Hezbollah's North American threat.

It has the expertise to build advanced tunnels on the southern U.S. border, enabling Hezbollah terrorists and Mexican cartel operatives to infiltrate the United States.

Relations between Iranian-backed proxies, including Hezbollah, and Latin American drug cartels are well established. Mexican gang members learn from Hezbollah's combat experience and use of advanced weaponry.

Hezbollah, in turn, derives a significant portion of its finances from the drug trade and other illicit activities.

In recent years, security officials in southwestern states noticed a rise in tattoos featuring Hezbollah's insignia among imprisoned drug cartel operatives. This surprising trend indicates a strengthened relationship between the terrorist group and Mexican gang members.

In line with its foreign policy, Iranian operatives infiltrating Latin America seek to convert individuals to adopt its extremist Shi'ite ideology. Over the years, pro Iranian Websites have proliferated across Latin America, in an attempt to cultivate support for the Islamic Republic.

Powerful Latin American politicians also help Iran and Hezbollah penetrate the region and threaten the United States.

In February, CNN received a 2013 secret intelligence document from several Latin American countries demonstrating ties between Venezuelan Vice President Tarreck El Aissami and 173 Venezuelan identification cards and passports issued to people from the Mideast, including Hezbollah operatives. El Aissami "took charge of issuing, granting visas and nationalizing citizens from different countries, especially Syrians, Lebanese, Jordanians, Iranians, and Iraqis," the report shows.

Iranian and Hezbollah operatives have cultivated and consolidated operating bases in South America, especially in the tri-border area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

With a large Muslim population featuring significant numbers of Hezbollah sympathizers, the region is ripe for recruitment, arms smuggling and drug trafficking.

Hezbollah continues to exploit other Lebanese Shi'ite diaspora communities, including in the U.S., to strengthen its presence worldwide.

In 2011, the U.S. disrupted a plot led by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in cooperation with a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington.

The problematic nexus between Iranian-backed operatives, including Hezbollah, and Mexican drug cartels allows terrorists to earn big money to fuel their violent operations.

These connections also enable Hezbollah to make inroads into the U.S. through its porous border with Mexico.

American intelligence reports show that Hezbollah maintains a significant network of sleeper cells in the United States. Though Hezbollah has not conducted a major attack on U.S. soil, the group could decide to strike key American sites should U.S.-Iran relations deteriorate substantially.

Preparations to combat Islamist terrorism broadly should strongly consider the nuanced and growing Hezbollah threat to U.S. national security.

Steven Emerson is executive director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism. He was a correspondent for CNN and a senior editor at U.S. News and World Report. Read more reports from Steve Emerson — Click Here Now.