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In 1983 the Iran-funded Islamist terrorist organization, Hezbollah, murdered 241 U.S. Marines in Beirut, Lebanon while the marines slept in their barracks.
On October of 1983, the buildings housing the U.S. Marines' peacekeeping force in Beirut was destroyed by a suicide-mission car full of explosives. Most of the dead had been asleep in their bunks when the 6:20a.m. explosion occurred. The bombing was the work of a militant, pro-Iranian Shiite Moslem group known as Hezbollah, the Party of God, with headquarters in a Syrian-controlled part of Lebanon.
According to the U.S. State Department, Iran continues to be the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism. At the request of senior Iranian leadership, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) support Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command with funding, training and weapons.
Hezbollah "a Lebanese Shiite terrorist group" is a particular favorite. In fact, Iran established Hezbollah to parry Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Tehran may fund Hezbollah to the tune of $100 million per year. Last summer, Tehran's military support for Hezbollah was evident. Iran likely gave Hezbollah the green light to ambush an Israeli patrol and kidnap soldiers, which ultimately kicked off the month long conflict.
In the ensuing days, Hezbollah indiscriminately fired as many as 10,000 Iran-supplied rockets and missiles into Israel. In addition, many were stunned when a C-802 cruise missile struck an Israeli naval vessel off the coast of Lebanon. While the shooter was never identified, the Chinese C-802 is in Iran's inventory. It could have been fired by either Hezbollah or the IRGC.
Today, Hezbollah, with Iranian and Syrian support, is threatening to topple Lebanon's democratically elected government unless it is given additional cabinet seats potentially giving it veto power over Beirut's decisions. Iran would love to add Lebanon to Syria as a client state in its effort to form an arc of Iranian influence across the region.
Iran has made a number of not-so-veiled threats that it would deploy its irregular forces and terrorist allies against the U.S. and American interests, if necessary. This is likely not an idle threat. American blood is already on the hands of Iran and its terrorist proxies as a result of the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks attack and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, and in Iraq today. It is almost without question that Tehran sees its ability to hold U.S. interests at risk across the globe "including in the U.S." as leverage against American military action over its nuclear program or meddling in Iraq.
Perhaps the most frightening scenario is that Iran might transfer weapons of mass destruction capability to a terrorist ally. While this is risky behavior, it is a possibility. Iran could transfer nuclear capability to a Hezbollah-dominated government in Lebanon, or a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, significantly increasing the threat to Israeli security. Osama bin Laden has not been shy about his desire for WMD or al-Qaida's readiness to use them. The insurgency's recent use of chlorine gas in Iraq is evidence of a terrorist group's willingness to employ WMD.
A federal judge in 2003 blamed Iran for the 1983 terrorist bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines in Beirut and said Tehran would have to pay damages to survivors and relatives.
U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said the suicide truck bombing was carried out by the terrorist group Hezbollah with the approval and funding of senior Iranian officials.
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