Report: Hizbullah Facing Financial Crisis
The Syrian turmoil and the international condemnation of the crackdown on protesters increased Hizbullah’s concerns over the halt of weapons flow from Iran, the German Der Spiegel weekly magazine reported.
Hizbullah is currently facing a financial crisis “which contradicts the Israeli allegations,” the magazine said.
The report said that the financial crisis that Hizbullah is suffering from is due to “the Iranian deficiency because of Tehran’s nuclear activity and the international sanctions on it.”
“Hizbullah made in the past months a number of investments and lost around $1.4 billion,” the report added.
Intelligence sources told the magazine that they have reached a lead indicating that “Hizbullah decided in cooperation with Iran to enter drug trafficking operations to ensure an income that can boost its mission.”
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan “Nasrallah might be alarmed over the issue because he has always fought drugs that he described as poison,” Der Spiegel remarked.
Concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri in 2005, the magazine published a rare photo of the accused Salim Ayyash along with Mustafa Badreddine and two others.
The report said that Badreddine and Ayyash might have fled to Iran “they have trained and worked in Tehran for years with Communications Officer Qassem Suleimani,” a Revolutionary Guards general.
However, local Lebanese sources told the magazine that they didn’t rule out the possibility that the two men have been killed in Lebanon.
The STL submitted a confidential indictment and arrest warrants for four accused members of Hizbullah on June 30. They are Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra and Hussein Anaissi.
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