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With Arab neighbors more concerned about Iran than Israel, is Tehran the war for influence in the region?
By Farnaz Fassihi and David D. Kirkpatrick
Iran’s foreign minister visited Lebanon and Hezbollah last week, Iran’s backed defense force and political organization playing an important role in government.destroyed much of the city.
But almost as soon as he arrived, Chancellor Mohammad Javad Zarif blinded Iran through a new affront: an agreement between two of Tehran’s main regional rivals, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates, to open official diplomatic relations.
Together, the two advances represented a brutal month for the Iranian government after two very difficult years.
Iran’s economy has reached a point of collapse through the Trump administration’s two-year economic sanctions campaign.The Iranian army has only been to mount symbolic retaliation for a series of Israeli movements on its assets in the Syrian Allied, or for the United States.murder last winter of a respected commander in Iraq.
Then the Iranian government got stuck hiding the downing of a passenger plane through its own air defenses and now the Iranian fitness formula is suffering to involve a resurgence of the Covid-19 epidemic that may be among the worst in the world.
Zarif, its stopover in Beirut, can do little more than brag, warning other nations not to make their own influence over Lebanon greater in the midst of chaos.The Emirati pact with Israel was simply a “theatre” production, he proclaimed.
But after the August 4 explosion that killed at least 175 other people and injured more than 6,000 in Beirut and the Emirati-Israel agreement, “it is difficult to write a worse situation for Iran,” said Ian Bremmer, Eurasia’s president.a political threat consultancy.
On Saturday, some prominent Iranian politicians helping the regime argued that the Emirati agreement with Israel, forged through mutual enmity with Iran, could mark a turning point opposed to Tehran in a war for public opinion in the region.
“In the eyes of the Arab street, Iran is now the enemy,” said Mohamad Ali Abtahi, a former vice president who denounces the government.”We are in a scenario where our neighboring Arab countries are turning to Israel to confront Iran.”
Just ten years ago, fierce denunciations of Israel and Washington through senior Iranian leaders sparked crowds of admirers on their visits to the region’s Arab capitals.
But that before Iran intervened to help crush the Arab Spring uprising in Syria, before a resurgence of sectarian tensions caused by the political rivalry between Iran, a Shia majority and its Sunni-majority neighbors, and before a wave of protests through Protestant Iraqis and Lebanese.Iran’s interference in its domestic policy.
That too before the trump administration’s grief began to deplete Iran’s generosity to its regional clients.
“We frightened the Arabs and throw them into the arms of Israel,” Ali Motahari, a conservative Iranian who supports the government, tweeted Saturday.
In some respects, the agreement to open diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Israel is simply a public recognition of what is political secrecy: its armed forces and intelligence agencies have been cooperating strongly against Iran for years.
Emirati officials said that in exchange for public recognition, Israel had agreed to withdraw from its promise to officially annex Palestinian territory in the West Bank, but critics noted that Israeli leaders were temporarily backing down and had their own reasons for doing so.
transcript
From the New York Times, I’m Michael Barbaro.
Today: For the first time in nearly 30 years, an Arab country has established complete diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.Mark Landler on what he says about the dynamics of middle eastern conversion.
It’s Tuesday, August 18th.
Mark, me about this dinner.
Well, it was March 2018, don’t forget it was a rainy night and it was a dinner at a place to eat called Café Milano, which is in Georgetown, and it’s one of Washington’s classic water spots.Assets pass there. Obama’s management senior officials went there.It’s an Italian food place, you know, full of tough runners.And one of the most prosperous and unwavering consumers of this food place is a diplomat named Yousef Otaiba.And Otaiba is the United Arab Emirates, ambassador to Washington.He is not necessarily a diplomat from one of the world’s largest countries, but he has become one of Washington’s top and influential ambassadors.And one of the tactics he has done over the years is to expand this network of contacts between management officials, Democrats and Republicans at the Capitol and members of the media, thus ended theirs at Café Milano.The night of March.
Otaiba had arranged a dinner with a senior trump management official, who oversaw management policy toward Iran, as well as with several other veteran hounds and some other guests, who is the U.S. ambassador to Bahrain, who is another Persian.Gulf Kingdom So we sat down to see what kind of vintage yousef Otaiba night.
But early in the evening, we realized, or the owner of the place to eat told us, that there was another vital user dining there that night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.
Uh?
Who is in Washington that week for the annual AIPAC assembly, which is a gigantic pro-Israel lobbying organization, and dined there that night with his wife Sara, so in this personal room where we met with Otaiba, an organization of us began to say, well, wouldn’t it be attractive to invite Netanyahu to come and say hello to the organization?
Now, why would it be so much fun?
Well, attractive because the concept of the Prime Minister of Israel coming to meet with two diplomats from the Arab Gulf countries would be a kind of small milestone, they are countries that, after all, do not recognize Israel, that have been denouncing Israel for years. Israel, the very perception of a Zionist state, that they are the massive champions of the Palestinians, so the concept that Netanyahu would come to greet and engage in small talks would be a bit important.
Then, with Otaiba’s consent, one of the visitors at the table slid around the restaurant, approached the Prime Minister and told him, you know, for God’s sake, when you finished dinner, why did your wife come here to greet Yousef Otaiba and his visitors?And Netanyahu said he would.
What happens next?
Well, towards the end of the night, as promised, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara come in, and first of all, it’s a bit of a serious matter.People get up, nobody knows what to do. It is not enough to sit and sign up for us for dessert, but it is transparent without delay that Netanyahu needs to seize this moment to add up a point, and what he needs to approve is that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have done so.explanation of why to be more frivolous to each other.And the way he does it is to show his non-unusual enemy, which is Iran.
And so Netanyahu, as he has done publicly and privately many times, enters a rather familiar diatribe about Iranian misbehavior, Iranian misdeeds, and how Israel and the Gulf countries will have to be best friends to oppose this Iranian threat.Otaiba nods. He agrees with everything Netanyahu says, what he says on the surface, seems like a pretty risk-free conversation.
But the attractive moment comes a little later when Sara Netanyahu, who has a wonderful personality, intervenes with the ambassador, we would love to welcome you to Jerusalem.And Otaiba’s reaction is very polite and very charming.And he nods. But he’s not very engaged, he doesn’t say, oh, yes, of course I’ll be there.
Right.
It simply suggests that it would be great if that happened and, on this kind of note, this assembly is interrupted and Netanyahu and his wife take time off.The door closes and then we all go down and digest what just happened.
I have a feeling that this type of exchange is taboo and they would not have sought to be informed of this interaction, for example.
Well, actually. And after Prime Minister Netanyahu left, the ambassador looked around the table and said, they realize that if they report this, I’m going to have a lot of unrest at home.Now, the fundamental regulations for this dinner were that it was unofficial.That’s how Otaiba’s dinners are held, so none of us came here to this dinner in the hope of bringing things back, but it must be said that Washington is a city that is dripping and there were 10 hounds seated.around a table. Thus, the fact of this dinner and the assembly between Otaiba and Netanyahu fled, and so was reported through the AP in the Israeli press, in the Arab press.
Therefore, it falls a little into the category of the secret of the polychinelle, which, in a strange way, is a metaphor for the closest ties between the Gulf States and Israel.Everybody knows this is happening. You don’t see it outdoors.
Right, but to be clear, it wasn’t reported through Mark Landler, a fair reporter who honors unofficial settlements.
It wasn’t. And I’ll have to say at that moment that I contacted Ambassador Otaiba and asked him, courtesy of this week’s news, if he’d settle for me to publicly share this anecdote and he said yes, so I can tell you today.
So, Mark, it’s now very transparent that everything you observed at that dinner continued and led to this week.
Yes, that’s right. And that has led to a remarkable fact result in the annals of international relations in the Middle East: the United Arab Emirates has announced that it will normalize relations with the State of Israel, joining a very small number of Arab states in and was largely a deal negotiated through the Trump administration.
Mhm.Il a few moments ago, I arranged a very special call with two friends, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates, where they agreed to conclude a historic peace agreement.
And they agreed –
After 49 years, Israel and the United Arab Emirates will normalize diplomatic relations.
– to formalize a normalized relationship between them. And then President Trump called the cameras in the Oval Office for what he said, without using hyperbole, as a massive deal.
Mhm.
This is a historic moment indeed. Since the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan more than 25 years ago, much progress has been made towards peace in the Middle East.
Because it’s a pretty big deal.
And when you say normalize, what does it mean to normalize the dating between those two countries?
Well, on a very specific level, it allows safe things to happen, this allows you to open an embassy and have an ambassador, allows flights to depart and fly between countries, deepens industry relations.It also allows you to align much more strategically, and that becomes a big challenge when you communicate about facing Iran, whether sharing information, running in a diplomatic mix or simply consulting others, it’s much less difficult to do when you have a classic diplomatic relationship.Allows you to provide a united front in front of a non-unusual enemy.
But Mark, beyond the formalization of a courtship between the two countries, what does this agreement do, and what did both sides get and surrender?
Well, first of all, he’s doing everything Israel has been doing for a long time, which is building the list of its Arab neighbors who recognize it and have general relations with it. From Israel’s point of view, the United States United Arab Emirates in its corner is incredibly important, because the United Arab Emirates has a wonderful influence in Saudi Arabia.And Saudi Arabia is the big player in this area, it is the first Arab gulf country, it is the country that Israel needs maximum popularity from, with which the utmost need to generalize its relations, so on the one hand.On the other hand, from the point of view of the United Arab Emirates, the essence of this agreement is that Israel has agreed not to annex the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.If you remember, Prime Minister Netanyahu said he planned to annex those territories.
That Israel will retain security control of the domain west of the Jordan River, thus giving Israel a permanent eastern border.
With or a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
That’s what we really want. [APPLAUSE] Now we have such an identified border.
And integrate them into the State of Israel.This is all that the Arab states, adding the United Arab Emirates, have deeply opposed.And so, in a primary counterpart, the United Arab Emirates basically said, if they don’t annex, we’ll normalize.So both one and both have something and both look gave up anything.In that sense, it’s a kind of classic diplomatic engagement.
So, let’s communicate the motivations that brought the players here, the other people you saw at that dinner 18 months ago, to conclude this agreement, because, as you said, at the time, it didn’t necessarily look like anything that would happen.So what happened between that dinner and this week that brought both countries to this point?
Well, the U.A.E. had been open to a closer appointment with Israel.But there were several things that slowed him down. And their vital maximum was the fate of the Palestinians.As long as there was this consensus in the Arab world that the Palestinians were oppressed through Israel, there was no way the UAE could do it.He may be closer to Israel, even if he was interested in doing so because he felt they had this non-unusual enemy in Iran.
And then really, the vital thing it has replaced has been, frankly, the international relations of Trump’s leadership, which came to the region and tried to negotiate a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians that leaned very strongly toward He imagined the lifestyle of a Palestinian state, but one that would be incredibly fragmented with very little authority , a vassal state of Israel.And it was an offer that the Palestinians flatly rejected.They refused to come to the table. But what this in turn led Prime Minister Netanyahu to say that I will not wait for a peace agreement, I will go ahead and annex those spaces of the agreement in the West Bank, places where Jewish settlers built housing.I will annex you to the State of Israel with or without a peace agreement.
Right.
Netanyahu had had a very complicated year, if you remember.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, has given up to shape a new Israeli government.
There have been several unsafe elections.
[SPEAKS HEBREW]
Since receiving my mandate, I have worked tirelessly, bratly and covertly, to form a broad government of national unity.That’s what other people want. And that’s also what Israel needs.
He failed to gather a real majority in power, yet he reached an agreement with his main opponent to take up the post of prime minister and the most sensible thing is that he faces a trial for corruption.
Right.
And a real consultation about his future.
[SPEAKS HEBREW]
Police elements of the Attorney General’s Office allied with the left-wing media.I call them “Just Not Bibi Gang”, to unite unfounded and mind-blowing instances that oppose me.Its purpose is to overthrow a strong right, prime minister of the wing.
So we have this Prime Minister who is somewhat politically cornered in a way that his Array wants to appeal to his right flank, right in Israel, and the way he made the decision to do so was to take a very competitive position on annexation.very popular among the right. He is very popular among the settler movement, and he had made the decision that this was going to be his course, he was going to buy him a political lifeline.
What he found, however, was that the Europeans opposed him, Arab states opposed him, adding his potential long-term allies in the Gulf.And, in fact, it’s quite appealing that Trump’s management wasn’t haunted either.Partly because the U.A. and others said in the United States, this is a red line for us.We cannot their peace efforts if Israel takes this step.
With so much calm, Jared Kushner essentially told Netanyahu, great.Wait, don’t do that now. The explanation for why the hasty time was that for the United Arab Emirates and the other Persian Gulf states, this was a disturbing and difficult step to resolve.It may simply not conform to the concept that Israel is doing it.But the fact that Netanyahu is doing it, so provocative in saying that he was going to do it really presented the United Arab Emirates with an opportunity.This gave them an opportunity to make an offering to Israel and, in fact, Yousef Otaiba, our dinner character at Café Milano, is the one who conveys the message.
In June, he wrote a letter published through a main Hebrew-language newspaper in Israel, in which he necessarily told the Israeli government that his choice was annexation or normalization.It basically says, and I quote: “The resolution to annex Israel will be an undeniable sign.The annexation is a misproception of some other order.”So, like drawing a red line, if you do that, you’ll normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates and this is a really vital moment in this story.Because it clarifies the selection of the Israeli government, it also clarifies the selection and opportunity for the Trump administration.
Because the next thing is that Trump’s management is concerned about seeking to negotiate exactly this quid pro quo, this agreement, this commitment, and without the letter, this is unlikely to ever have happened, at least now.
It turns out that he is saying this in a way contrary to intuition because, at least publicly, Netanyahu is pushing for the annexation of the West Bank, which perhaps secretly was grateful to have the opportunity to avoid it.
It’s true. It was almost a lifeguard, if you think about it.He is emerging from a scenario that seemed increasingly insensitive.And in doing so, a very different legacy is provided. Netanyahu was ready to be remembered as a long-time leader who presided over an era of frustration and lack of progress in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, but he will now be remembered as the Israeli prime minister who achieved normalization of relations with a key Arab country in the Gulf, a very different outcome from what was predicted for him just a week ago.
We’ll be back.
So, Mark, what does this agreement mean for the Palestinians? Not annexing the West Bank turns out to be a good fortune type for Palestinians, but it returns the stage to where it was before Netanyahu announced this competitive move, this annexation of the West Bank.
Well, it’s a very combined bag for the Palestinians, because you’re right.Which would be a disastrous outcome, which would be to lose up to 30% of the territory that would once have been a component of a Palestinian state.
On the other hand, the symbolism of this agreement is really very bad for the Palestinians, because what it shows is that the United Arab Emirates is ready to normalize relations with Israel in the absence of an agreement that gives the Palestinians a state.the precondition for Israel’s popularity through many of these Arab states, that is, it will have to have reached an agreement with the Palestinians.It was that I followed the two Estados.No adopted the two-state solution.the two-state solution is more remote than ever, yet the USAE went ahead and reached this agreement.
So what you are saying, in very direct terms, is that the Arab states have other priorities on the calendar that are more wonderful than protecting the interests of the Palestinians and therefore, from the Palestinian point of view, it is a betrayal. a loss of influence. This was, after all, the wonderful point of strength that the Palestinians had with Israel. If Israel ever sought to be identified through its neighbors, it had to succeed in a deal with the Palestinians. Now it is transparent that it is no longer transparent. And that makes your situation, if possible, more desperate than ever.
So, finally, Mark, what is the motivation for the Trump administration that, as you said, has driven this over the past 18 months or so since that dinner?Why did they do that?
Well, I’d say there are several reasons, start with the fact that your Middle East peace efforts, led by the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have stalled.So it was a way of reviving a procedure, that had been paralyzed.
Second, the Trump administration spent 3 years cultivating those Persian Gulf countries, not only the United Arab Emirates, but of course the Saudis, do so, in part, for monetary reasons.This is a possibility of selling a giant amount of complex weapons prices This would allow USAE to buy bigger and more complicated weapons in the United States, as many of those weapons are reserved for countries that recognize Israel, creating another market for high-end American weapons..
And a third reason, frankly, is perhaps the simplest of all: President Trump is lagging behind in the polls and confronting the electorate in two months.He wants great victories and it’s a wonderful victory. Presidents like to make history in the Middle East, and that gave the president the chance to do it at a time when it turns out to go well for him, it’s a complex set of points: economic, political, and strategic.
So Mark, who has been covering international relations for a long time and who has noticed these other wonderful symbolic occasions along the way with regard to Israel and its former enemies:
On behalf of the United States and Russia, co-authors of the Middle East peace process, we welcome this opportunity for history and hope.
– I am thinking, for example, of the handshake in the White House between Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin.
[APPLAUSE]
Bill Clinton together.
Today, Israel’s leaders and the Palestine Liberation Organization will signal a statement of principles on Palestinian interim autonomy.He’s charting a path to reconciliation.
Because those occasions have mattered, sometimes they dissolved very quickly.What is the meaning of this in your mind?Because I am aware that it has been several years since this handshake and from one of the moments that seem really important.
So, unlike the handshake between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the White House, or the Camp David agreement between Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Israel’s Menachem Begin in 1978, this agreement is more pragmatic, perhaps less ancient and symbolic, in addition to a computational product.to make history. Every aspect gets something, every aspect provides something.An agreement that was brought through bad circumstances.
And yet this, I think, will matter, because it’s not just about the UAE.Israel, two relatively small, but very important, countries.It’s an agreement that’s really transforming dynamics across the region, as we’ve said.This makes the issues much worse for the Palestinians.But it also makes things worse for the Iranians.Remember that the purpose of all this is to expand a united front opposite Iran.And for Iran to face the Gulf states and Israel in an appearance of unity is a far greater challenge for them than if Arabs and Israelis hated each other.So I think that adjusts the equation here.
Moreover, by removing the prospect of annexation, at least for the time being, it removes a possible apple of massive discord between Israel and the West, not only Europeans, but also the United States., at first glance, might not seem as vital as some of the others we have talked about.
But in terms of domino effects, it’s literally quite significant.You have the possibility to realign the region. People who adhere to Middle Eastern policy should communicate about the forces realigning the region, which replace the underlying dynamic.And the fact is, many occasions don’t do that literally in the end.This one may actually have a chance to do so.
Mark, I know you spoke to this ambassador of the United Arab Emirates, you had dinner with him and asked him for permission to tell us this story, for which we are grateful, what else he told you about this agreement.
Well, beyond giving me permission to communicate about it, I essentially sent him a note saying, you know, it looks like, after all, you could go to Jerusalem, a result that, in this Georgetown place to eat in 2018, far away.
Mark, thank you very much. We that.
Thank you, Michael.
We’ll be back.
(SINGING “THE STAR BANNER”) Oh, can you see, sunrise? What is so proud?
Here’s what you want to know today. On the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, a virtual occasion due to the pandemic, a number of high-level Republicans, along with former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and former presidential candidate John Kasich, backed Joe Biden, claiming that President Trump had let the country down and them.
Joe Biden is a man for our time, a time that forces us all to take off our partisan hats and prioritize our country for us and, of course, for our children.
Later that night, Senator Bernie Sanders, Biden’s former democratic nominee rival, begged his members in 2016 and 2020 to address Biden.
My friends, I tell you, to all those who supported other candidates in the primaries, and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election, the long term of our democracy is at stake. our economy is at stake. The long term of our planet is at stake. We will have to unite, defeat Donald Trump, and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next President and Vice President. My friends, the value of failure is too great to imagine.
In the opening speech of the night, former first lady Michelle Obama for a new era of empathy and character, and said restoring either would require Donald Trump’s political trial.
Let me be as fair and transparent as possible: Donald Trump is not the right president for our country, he has had more than enough time to show that he can do the job, but he is clearly above his head.He can’t face this moment, he just can’t be the one we want for us, that’s what he is.
It’s the first of four nights where Democrats expect to win over moderates worried about President Trump and energize liberals who might not be enthusiastic about Biden.
That’s it for The Daily. Michael Barbaro, see you tomorrow.
Only two Arab states had identified Israel in the past, Egypt and Jordan, both far from Iran and motivated by the security of their own borders (as well as by Washington’s goodwill).
The UAE, on the other hand, is the state among Iran’s Gulf neighbors that has reached such an agreement, and the first to act primarily in opposition to Iran.
Iranian, Arab and Western analysts have predicted that other Gulf monarchies will soon follow, with Bahrain and Oman as the most productive candidates.Oman, who has sometimes positioned itself as an impartial intermediary between Iran and its Arab rivals, generated hypothesis two.years ago, when he organized a stopover through Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Previously, Iranian analysts expressed fear that the U.S. mall in Dubai could also offer special benefits to Israeli attempts to spy on Iran.Dubai (which appears to have a de facto exemption from U.S. sanctions).
As a result, Dubai may now be the first position in decades where a large number of Iranians and Israelis can mingle.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani warned Emirati to let Israel “settle in the region.”
“See that we would then act and treat differently,” he said in a speech on Saturday.
However, Iranian officials have given no indication that they should punish the UAE or threaten to cut off industry or diplomatic ties, given the long-standing economic ties between Iran and the UAE and the weakness of the economy. Iranian, analysts say. Iran had few options.
Several argued that the full effect on Iran of the Emirati-Israel deal would only become transparent over time.
“Is it the US to But it’s not the first time Eva more public about Israeli bombardment of Iranian comforts in Syria, or Israeli efforts to thwart Hezbollah?Will Sanam Vakil, a researcher at Chatham House in London, ask Israel to the United Arab Emirates?In the face of Iranian aggression? Everything is really opaque right now.
The risk of a regional reorganization, however, can only complicate Iran’s efforts to strengthen its influence through Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon, a country that Iranian officials call “our southern border” or “our border with Israel.”
“Lebanon’s security is our security,” Zarif told lebanese hounds on their scale this week.
But while Hezbollah’s Iranian weaponry has provided Tehran with tacit influence opposed to Israel, the internal crisis in Lebanon has completely drained the movement’s energies and mitigated any such threats.
“Iran and Hezbollah are very stuck after the explosion,” Ms. Vakil of Chatham House said.”It is very unlikely that Iran will be able to rely on Hezbollah to launch one of its missiles and rockets over Israel right now.Surely there will be no appetite or adventurism.
After a war in Lebanon in 2006 between Hezbollah and Israel, Iran was quick to distribute donations to local Lebanese companies and pay for reconstruction, thus strengthening its influence.
But after last week’s explosion, Iran’s sponsorship was more frugal.
The Iranian Red Crescent announced that it had delivered 95 tons of food and medical aid, as well as a 37-member medical team to open a cash hospital.(A municipal agreement related to Hezbollah said last week that it would send aid groups to white space in a predominantly Christian neighborhood, but angry locals spoiled the plan.)
Zarif’s warning to other nations not to verify to magnify his influence in Lebanon amid the turmoil, there was a tacit attack on French President Emmanuel Macron, Lebanon’s former colonial leader.Macron had just flown to Beirut to lead reconstruction financing efforts abroad, taking on a role Iran had sought in the past as Lebanon’s benevolent chief.
Macron also called for the formation of a new technocratic government, which may have the side effect of cutting off the influence of Iran and its representative, Hezbollah.
Outraged Iranian commentators have rebuked Macron for dominating the stage, accusing him of forgetting France’s independence from Lebanon, but Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, at odds with Iranian opinion, rebukes meeting Macron and publicly praised aid.
Sadegh Zibakalam, a political analyst in Tehran who brailedly criticizes government policy, saw parallels between Zibakalam’s visit, Macron in Lebanon, Iran’s inability to prevent Israeli airstrikes opposed to its positions in Syria, and the recent variety of a US-backed prime minister.Iraq.
Tehran has invested resources in militias and allies in all three countries, noting, from what Iranian officials call “resistance” to the United States and Israel.
Today, setbacks in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, he argued, demonstrate “the effects of making a billion-dollar investment in the resistance strategy.”
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