Iran says Hezbollah’s power “growing”

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Jul. 05 – The advisor to Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) Speaker has announced that the Shiite Lebanese group Hezbollah had seen real growth in recent years and that no international sanctions or pressure would change this.

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Jul. 05 – The advisor to Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) Speaker has announced that the Shiite Lebanese group Hezbollah had seen real growth in recent years and that no international sanctions or pressure would change this.

“Sanctions on Lebanon are ineffective, similar to Iran”, Hossein Sheikholeslam, international affairs advisor to Ali Larijani, said on Monday. His remarks were carried by the state-run news agency Fars.

“Today, Hezbollah is acting more powerfully than any other intelligence system in the world, and the pressures exerted on the Lebanese government are the result of this very power of Hezbollah”, Sheikholeslam said, adding that the “increasing power” of the Islamic group meant that within a few years it would become an uncontested force in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state prosecutor last week announced he had received indictments and arrest warrants over the 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri from the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The indictments are thought to accuse four Hezbollah members of involvement in the bombing which killed Hariri and 22 others.